I 


1*^  ^-<         . !  6:  ^•;.^- ■:;;%'■:;■    •:■'■  ■    ■<.■'<■■■.:■  . 
f      5'  !?'^iv'*;>;V^i*^:-  liny  ■;';.:;  ■:■■■.' 


STATE   GOVERNMENT 


IN 


PENNSYLVANIA 


A  MANUAL  OF 
PRACTICAL  CITIZENSHIP 


By  SAMUEL  B.   SCOTT 

OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA  BAR 

Member  House  of  Representatives  of  Pennsylvania,  1907-1914 


Philadelphia 

THE   HARPER   PRESS 

1012-20  Chancellor  Street 

1917 


Copyright  1917 
Harper  Printing  Company 


PRINTED     IN    THE     UNITED     STATES. 


HAVING  been  born  a  citizen  of  a  free  State,  and  a 
member  of  the  sovereign  body,  however  feeble  an 
influence  my  voice  may  have  in  public  affairs,  the 
right  to  vote  upon  them  is  sufficient  to  impose  on  me  the 
duty  of  informing  myself  about  them ;  and  I  feel  happy, 
whenever  I  meditate  on  governments,  always  to  discover 
in  my  researches  new  reasons  for  loving  that  of  my  o^^^l 
country. 

Rousseau.    Social  Contract.    Book  I. 
Introductory  note. 


405138 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 


THE  author  gratefully  acknowledges  the  willing  re- 
sponse that  has  invariably  met  his  requests  for 
information  and  assistance.  Especially  he  de- 
sires to  thank  the  Legislative  Eeference  Bureau  and  its 
able  staff,  past  and  present ;  Hon,  T.  Henry  Walnut,  who 
was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Elections  in  the 
Pennsylvania  House  of  Representatives  during  the  ses- 
sion of  1913,  at  which  session  sweeping  improvements 
were  effected  in  the  election  laws,  and  who  reviewed  the 
manuscript  of  the  chapter  on  elections ;  E.  Bartram  Rich- 
ards, Esq,,  of  the  Philadelphia  Bar,  for  valuable  sugges- 
tions in  connection  with  the  same  chapter;  Hon,  George 
Alter,  Speaker  of  the  Pennsylvania  House  of  Represen- 
tatives during  the  session  of  1913;  Frederick  P.  Gruen- 
berg,  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research 
(Philadelphia),  who  reviewed  the  whole  manuscript  and 
made  many  valuable  suggestions  and  amendations ;  Hon, 
Robert  D,  Dripps,  Secretary  of  the  Public  Charities 
Association,  and  Kenneth  L,  M.  Pray,  Assistant  Secre- 
tary, who  have  furnished  valuable  material  for  the  chap- 
ter bearing  on  State  Charitable  Appropriations. 

Since  much  of  the  legal  matter  in  this  book  is  of  an 
elementary  nature,  no  effort  has  been  made  to  furnish  a 
citation  in  support  of  every  statement.  The  sources  are 
the  usual  tools  of  the  lawyer's  trade.  But  wherever  the 
reader  might  be  supposed  to  desire  fuller  details  than 


VI  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

could  be  compressed  into  a  book  of  this  scope,  the  refer- 
ence to  the  original  authority  is  given.  Special  mention 
must  be  made  of  Suitill's  Legislative  Hand  Book.  This 
is  an  official  publication  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  ap- 
pearing annually,  and  is  distributed  free,  on  requisition 
by  Senators  and  Members  of  the  House.  It  is  packed 
with  useful  information  about  the  details  of  the  State 
Government,  contains  a  valuable  digest  of  the  election 
laws  and  much  other  information  useful  to  anyone  who 
would  take  an  active  part  in  public  affairs. 

When  the  book  went  to  press  the  Pamphlet  Laws 
for  1917  were  still  unissued.  This  made  it  impossible  to 
give  the  page  in  citing  1917  statutes,  but  the  reference 
can  easily  be  found  by  means  of  the  date  of  approval, 
which  is  given  when  making  the  citation. 

To  my  wife  a  debt  of  gratitude  is  due,  not  alone  for 
inspiration  and  encouragement,  but  also  for  her  thorough 
examination  of  the  manuscript  with  the  result  of  remov- 
ing many  obscurities  of  diction  and  infelicities  of  expres- 
sion, which  would  have  seriously  reduced  whatever  value 
this  work  may  have. 

S.  B;  S. 


CONTENTS. 

Chapter  I. 
Shilc  ami  Nation 1 

("liaptcr   ir. 
Till'  ].e-islatui-e ]0 

Chapter  III. 
The  Legislature  at  Work 18 

Chapter  IV. 
The  Legislature   at   Play 30 

Chapter  V. 
The  Legislature  Spending  Money 40 

Chapter  VI. 
Legislation  as  an  Instrument  of  Progress 56 

Chapter  VII. 
The  Legislative  Reference  Bureau.     Commissions     ...       67 

Chapter  VIII. 
The   Executive 76 

Chapter  IX. 
The  Public  Scliools.     Professional  Qualification       ...       86 

Chapter  X. 
The  Helping  Hand  of  the  State 99 

Chapter  XI. 
The  Courts 122 

Chapter  XII. 
The  Divisions  of  the  State 140 

Chapter  XIII. 

Counties 145 

vii 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

Chapter  XIV. 
Cities 150 

Chapter  XV. 
Cities  of  the  First  Class 156 

Chapter  XVI 
Cities  of  the  Second  Class 168 

Chapter  XVII. 
Cities  of  the  Third  Class 171 

Chapter  XVIII. 
Boroughs,  Incorporated  Towns  and  Townships     .      ,      .      .     179 

Chapter  XIX. 
Poor  Districts.     School  Districts 187 

Chapter  XX, 
Parties   in   Pennsylvania 193 

Chapter  XXI. 
Registration 207 

Chapter  XXII. 
The  Primary  Election 223 

'  Chapter  XXIII. 
The  Election 242 

Chapter  XXIV. 
Breaking  Into  Politics 255 


Boards — 
Advisory 
Deparl 

Agricuitip;;;'; 

Armory 
Commiss 

Monun 
Bducatiof 
State  Nd 
Elevated 

Railwa 


CHART  SHOWING  DEPARTMENTS,  BOARDS  AND  COMMISSIONS  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


3LICIT0R.    FOR    THE    ECONOMY 


KEY  TO   CHART 


Boards^ 
Advisory  for  the  Stale  Health 
Department    

Commissioners     on     Gettysburg 


State  Normal   Scbools    S(i 

Elevated       and       Underground 

Railways    72 

Bituminous   Mine   Inspectors...  44 

Certified    Public   Accountants..  39 

Dental     42 

Osteopathic    38 

Fhartnaceutlcal    27 

Registration  of  Nurses    45 

Veterinary    43 


Military    70 

Motion  Picture  Censors  . 


Public  Cbariiie 


College  and  U 


Trustees  of  State  Library   ....      74 

Undertakers    41 

Workmen's   Compensation    ....      2S 


Legislative    Reference    

Medical     Educartion     and     LI- 


ComnasiOKS — 
Agricultural    . . . 
Branch  Capitol 
Capitol  Park  Extensio) 


Economy  and  EEBciency 91 


Forest  Reservation 
Forest   Academy    . . 


Gettysburg    Monuments 


Pennsylvania    20 

Lake     Brie     and     Ohio     River 

Canal    23 

Lunacy   52 

Meado    Statu©    77 

Motbere   Penalona    18 


Health  Officehs 
Sanatoria 

State  Librarian 


CHAPTER  I. 


STATE   AND    NATION. 


WE  Pennsylvanians  have  a  right  to  be  proud  of 
our  Commonwealth.  Founded  in  an  age  of  in- 
tolerance by  a  man  who  had  himself  known 
persecution,  it  was  established  upon  the  firm  rock  of 
religious  freedom,  and  peopled  by  men  of  strong  con- 
science from  all  Europe.  Its  liberal  institutions  encour- 
aged rapid  growth,  and  though  among  the  last  of  the 
colonies  founded,  it  quickly  became  the  first  in  popula- 
tion. Tlie  quality  of  its  citizenship,  too,  was  of  the  first 
order.  As  long  as  the  history  of  the  nation's  birth  is 
cherished,  the  names  of  Pennsylvania's  early  patriots 
\vi\\  be  imperishable.  Later  the  Civil  War  demonstrated 
that  Pennsylvania  could  still  pour  forth  devoted  hosts 
prepared  to  die  for  the  cause  of  their  country. 

During  the  period  of  material  prosperity  which  fol- 
lowed, the  politics  of  the  State  were  dominated  by  the 
desire  to  maintain  federal  legislation  wliich  would  foster 
that  prosperity.  Lately,  however,  there  has  been  gain- 
ing ground  the  idea  that  this  is  not  enough,  that  a  govern- 
ment should  do  more  for  its  people  than  foster  the  great- 
est aggregate  wealth;  that  it  should  care  for  the  individ- 
ual, and  that  the  well  being  of  each,  rather  than  the  total 
wealth  of  the  whole,  should  be  its  aim. 

In  practice,  this  idea  appears  as  a  whole  flood  of 
propositions  looking  to  State  action  for  social  ameliora- 
tion. Some  of  these  are  sound  and  feasible,  some  absurd. 
Some  are  good  in  principle  but  poorly  framed  and  inap- 
plicable to  present  conditions.  Some  are  but  recrud- 
escences of  ancient  error,  some  flashes  of  the  coming 
dawn.     Of  whatever  nature  these  propositions  may  be, 


CHAPTEK  I. 


STATE   AND    NATION. 


WE  Pennsylvanians  have  a  ri^lit  to  be  proud  of 
our  Commonwealth.  Founded  in  an  age  of  in- 
tolerance by  a  man  who  had  himself  known 
persecution,  it  ^vas  established  upon  the  firm  rock  of 
religious  freedom,  and  peopled  by  men  of  strong  con- 
science from  all  Europe.  Its  liberal  institutions  encour- 
aged rapid  growth,  and  though  among  the  last  of  the 
colonies  founded,  it  quickly  became  the  first  in  popula- 
tion. The  quality  of  its  citizenship,  too,  was  of  the  first 
order.  As  long  as  the  history  of  the  nation's  birth  is 
cherished,  the  names  of  Pennsylvania's  early  patriots 
will  be  imperishable.  Later  the  Civil  War  demonstrated 
that  Pennsylvania  could  still  pour  forth  devoted  hosts 
prepared  to  die  for  the  cause  of  their  country. 

During  the  period  of  material  prosperity  which  fol- 
lowed, the  politics  of  the  State  were  dominated  by  the 
desire  to  maintain  federal  legislation  which  would  foster 
that  prosperity.  Lately,  however,  there  has  been  gain- 
ing ground  the  idea  that  this  is  not  enough,  that  a  govern- 
ment should  do  more  for  its  people  than  foster  the  great- 
est aggregate  wealth;  that  it  should  care  for  the  individ- 
ual, and  that  the  well  being  of  each,  rather  than  the  total 
wealth  of  the  whole,  should  be  its  aim. 

In  practice,  this  idea  appears  as  a  whole  flood  of 
propositions  looking  to  State  action  for  social  ameliora- 
tion. Some  of  these  are  sound  and  feasible,  some  absurd. 
Some  are  good  in  principle  but  poorly  framed  and  inap- 
plicable to  present  conditions.  Some  are  but  recrud- 
escences of  ancient  error,  some  flashes  of  the  coming 
dawn.     Of  whatever  nature  these  propositions  may  be, 


I  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

they  must  all  be  met  as  the  actualities  of  present  day  poli- 
tics, and  it  is  self  evident  that  success  in  meeting  them 
and  adapting  the  good  in  them  to  our  needs  must  be 
based  on  a  clear  understanding  of  what  we  already 
possess  in  our  government  as  it  now  exists. 

Democracy  proceeds  upon  the  theory  that  the  opinion 
of  every  citizen  is  worth  taking.  The  theory  is  sound, 
but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  in  practice  the  quality  of  gov- 
ernment attained  by  any  democracy  must  be  determined 
by  the  worth  of  the  opinions  so  obtained.  It  is  not  enough 
that  a  people  should  rule  themselves.  They  must  know 
how  to  rule.  They  must  acquaint  themselves  with  the 
problems  they  are  called  upon  to  solve,  and  courageously 
assume  the  responsibilities  which  the  nature  of  a  free 
government  entails. 

The  dual  form  of  our  government  requires  a  knowl- 
edge by  each  citizen  not  only  of  the  general  problems  of 
our  national  government,  but  also  of  the  laws  and 
institutions  peculiar  to  his  own  State.  No  one  can 
cast  a  reasonable  vote,  much  less  take  an  active  part 
in  the  public  life  of  the  Commonwealth,  unless  he 
understands  something  of  the  structure  of  the  State  gov- 
ernment, the  duties  of  its  various  officers  and  the  laws 
which  regulate  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  franchise.  The 
tendency  to  look  to  the  State  for  the  solution  of  pressing 
social  problems  is  constantly  growing,  and  questions  are 
being  brought  more  and  more  into  the  political  arena 
which  were  once  agitated  only  in  the  study  and  the  class 
room.  It  tluis  becomes  increasingly  necessary  that  each 
citizen,  in  taking  his  part  in  public  affairs,  should  do  so 
with  intelligence.  To  shorten  his  road  to  the  necessary 
equipment  is  the  mission  of  this  book.  The  veteran  may 
think  its  contents  elementary  indeed,  but  the  beginner 
will  find  gathered  here  material  which  he  could  read  in 
its  original  sources  only  by  a  discouraging  expenditure 
of  time  and  energy. 


STATE  AND  NATION.  O 

To  understand  our  State  there  must  first  be  a  compre- 
hension of  the  extent  of  its  powers  in  relation  to  those  of 
the  federal  government.  No  question  of  subordination  of 
one  of  these  governments  to  the  other  can  arise.  Each,  in 
its  own  sphere,  is  supreme.  It  would  be  idle,  also,  to 
speculate  as  to  which  government  is  more  important. 
Each  is  indispensable,  therefore  each  is  of  the  highest 
importance.  However,  when  we  come  to  consider  the 
question  of  which  government  has  the  greater  variety  of 
powers  and  the  greater  scope  for  activity, — which  comes 
closer  home  to  the  daily  life  of  the  average  citizen,  the 
answer  must  be  unhesitatingly,  the  State. 

The  difference  in  the  scope  of  the  two  governments 
flows  from  a  radical  difference  in  their  nature.  The  fed- 
eral government  is  a  government  of  defined  and  dele- 
gated powers,  the  State  government  is  a  government 
whose  sovereignty  is  unlimited  save  by  what  it  has  sur- 
rendered. The  national  legislators,  in  considering  a 
piece  of  proposed  legislation,  must  ask  themselves, 
*' Under  what  provision  of  the  Constitution  are  we  em- 
powered to  enact  this  law?"  The  State  legislators  have 
but  to  ask,  ''Does  any  provision  of  the  national  or  State 
Constitution  prevent  us  from  enacting  this  law?"  No- 
where in  the  national  Constitution  is  the  power  given  to 
legislate  on  things  in  general.  On  the  contrary,  the  vari- 
ous departments  of  the  national  government  are  given 
certain  defined  powers,  and  general  power  is  given  to  the 
Congress  only  ''To  make  all  Laws  which  shall  be  neces- 
sary and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  fore- 
going Powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this  Con- 
stitution in  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  in 
any  Department  or  Office  thereof."^ 

This  language  implies  clearly  enough  that  the  newly 
erected  national  government  was  clotlied  with  no  powers 
except  those  given  to  it  by  the  instrument  of  its  crea- 

(1)  U.  S.  Const.  Art.  I,  Sec.  18.    Italics  the  author's. 


4  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

tion,  either  in  express  words  or  by  necessary  implication. 
But  lest  there  should  be  any  doubt  upon  the  subject,  the 
tenth  amendment  was  promptly  adopted,  as  follows : 

"The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the 
Constitution,  noi-  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  resei'ved 
to  the  States  respectively,  or  to  the  people." 

How  natural  this  relationship  between  State  and  nation 
is,  appears  on  a  brief  contemplation  of  the  origin  of 
the  nation.  The  thirteen  original  States  are  all  older 
than  the  United  States,  having  come  into  existence 
through  that  famous  Declaration,  wherein  it  was  pub- 
lished and  declared  "That  these  United  Colonies  are,  and 
of  Right  ought  to  be  Free  and  Independent  States."  Thus 
in  the  compass  of  a  clause  Colonies  change  to  States.  The 
meaning  of  the  word  State  as  used  in  this  connection 
should  be  kept  clear.  We  speak  so  often  of  States  in  their 
connection  with  the  general  government  that  we  are  apt 
to  think  of  a  State  as  simply  a  unit  of  a  federal  system, 
but  in  the  words  quoted  above,  which  were  penned  be- 
fore the  Constitution  w^as  thought  of,  the  word  State  had 
no  such  meaning.  It  meant  then,  as  it  means  now  when 
strictly  used,  "independent  nation."  In  the  same  sen- 
tence of  the  Declaration  the  word  recurs,  and  here  its 
meaning  cannot  be  mistaken,  "And  that  all  political  con- 
nection between  them  and  the  State  of  Great  Britain,  is 
and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved." 

Pennsylvania,  then,  became  a  State  in  the  same  sense 
as  Great  Britain  was  a  State,  as  did  each  of  the  other 
colonies.  As  far  as  theory  is  concerned,  they  might  have 
remained  so  till  some  Bismarck  arose  to  weld  them  to- 
gether with  blood  and  iron.  But  the  needs  of  the  situ- 
ation and  the  political  aptitudes  of  the  people  soon  pro- 
duced union,  first  under  the  Articles  of  Confederation  and 
subsequently  under  the  Constitution.  By  this  latter  docu- 
ment, as  pointed  out  above,  the  States  divested  them- 
selves of  certain  powers  and  bestowed  them  upon  the 


STATE  AND  NATION.  0 

national  government,  but  in  the  exercise  of  wliat  powers 
remained  they  retained  the  full  vigor  of  a  sovereign  na- 
tion. 

In  order  that  the  relative  scope  of  the  two  govern- 
ments may  be  compared  it  is  necessary  to  enumerate  the 
powers  which  the  Constitution  has  given  to  the  nation 
and  those  it  has  denied  the  States.  Abbreviating  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Constitution,  they  are  as  follows :  - 

The  Congress  has  power: — 

1.  To  lay  and  collect  Taxes,  Duties,  Imposts,  and  Excises,  to  pay 
the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  Defence  and  general  Welfare 
of  the  United  States. 

2.  To  boiTow  money. 

3.  To  regulate  interstate  commerce. 

4.  To  legislate  on  naturalization  and  bankruptcy. 

5.  To  coin  money  and  regulate  weights  and  measures. 

6.  To  punish  counterfeiting. 

7.  To  establish  Post  Oflfices  and  Post  Roads. 

8.  To  regulate  Patents  and  Copyrights. 

9.  To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

10.  To  punish  crimes  on  the  high  seas. 

11.  To  declare  war. 

12.  To  raise  and  support  armies. 

13.  To  provide  and  maintain  a  Navy. 

14.  To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  land 
and  naval  forces. 

15.  To  provide  for  calling  out  the  Militia. 

16.  And  governing  the  Militia. 

17.  To  exercise  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  the  district  of  Colum- 
bia. 

18.  To  make  all  Laws  necessary  to  carry  into  execution  the 
foregoing  powers  and  powers  of  other  departments. 

The  limitations  upon  the  powers  of  the  States  are 
expressed  as  follows :  ^ 

"1.  No  state  shall  enter  into  any  Treaty,  Alliance  or  Confedera- 
tion; grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal;  coin  Money;  emit  Bills 
of  Credit ;  make  any  Thing  but  gold  and  silver  Coin  a  Tender  in 
Payment  of  Debts;  pass  any  Bill  of  Attainder,  or  ex  post  facto  Law, 
or  law  impairing  the  Obligation  of  Contracts,  or  grant  any  title  of 
Nobility. 

2.  No  state  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any 

(2)  Art.  I,  Sec.  8. 

(3)  Art.  I,  Sec.  10. 


O  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Imposts  or  Duties  on  Imports  or  Exports,  except  what  may  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws;  and  the  net 
produce  of  all  Duties  and  Imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  Imports  or 
Exports,  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States; 
and  all  such  laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  Revision  and  Control  of  the 
Congress. 

3.  No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  Congress,  lay  any 
Duty  of  Tonnage,  keep  Troops,  or  Ships  of  War  in  time  of  Peace, 
enter  into  any  agreement  or  Compact  with  another  State,  or  with  a 
foreign  Power,  or  engag'e  in  War,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such 
imminent  danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay." 

Thus  the  sphere  of  national  activity  is  defined.  And 
what  is  left  to  the  States'?  Everything  else.  Subject  to 
the  enumerated  restrictions,  all  the  multiform  activities 
of  a  free  and  energetic  people  must  be  regulated  by  them 
and  the  power  of  their  legislatures  to  pass  laws  for  such 
regulation  is  unlimited  save  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
State  itself. 

The  law  that  comes  home  to  the  average  citizen  is 
State  law.  He  is  married  by  State  law.  If  he  marries 
two  wives  at  once,  the  crime  is  against  State  law.  If 
he  is  divorced,  it  is  by  State  law.  The  policeman  is  on 
his  beat  by  virtue  of  State  law,  and  all  the  long  catalogue 
of  crimes  he  is  there  to  prevent,  are  crimes  against  State 
law.  When  born,  he  is  registered  by  virtue  of  State 
law,  when  he  dies  State  law  provides  a  coroner  for  un- 
explained deaths,  a  licensed  doctor,  a  law-regulated  ceme- 
tery and  rules  for  the  disposition  of  his  property.  He 
is  schooled  under  State  law;  he  is  sane  or  insane  by 
State  law.  If  a  man  slips  on  the  ice,  under  State  law 
he  sues  the  city.  If  he  is  hit  by  a  trolley  car,  he  sues  the 
company  under  State  law.  If  he  fails  to  pay  his  bills,  by 
State  law  is  he  sued.  In  fact  aU  business  is  upheld 
and  made  possible  by  reason  of  State  law.  Anything  like 
a  catalogue  of  the  activities  of  a  normal  State  legisla- 
ture is  quite  out  of  the  question,  because  the  number 
of  subjects  of  legislation  is  limited  only  by  the  fertility 
of  the  legislative  brain. 


STATE  AND  NATION.  / 

By  emphasizing  the  sovereign  qualities  of  the  States, 
but  disregarding  the  binding  nature  and  irrevocability 
of  the  act  by  which  a  portion  of  that  sovereignty  had  been 
surrendered,  the  doctrine  of  States'  rights  grew  until 
it  produced  the  Civil  War.  By  that  war  it  was  decisively 
destroyed,  and  gave  room  to  a  new  doctrine,  now  budding 
and  soon  to  flower  into  beautiful  maturity, — the  doctrine 
of  ''States'  duties."  By  very  reason  of  the  fact  that 
they  are  supreme  over  a  large  class  of  matters  which 
come  home  most  vitally  to  the  citizen,  the  duty  lies  heav- 
ily upon  the  States  to  wield  that  power  for  his  protection 
and  upbuilding;  In  the  past  this  duty  has  been  much 
neglected,  but  when  once  it  is  understood  and  assumed, 
it  will  never  be  abandoned. 

A  knowledge  of  the  history  of  Pennsylvania  is  not 
indispensable  to  the  practice  of  present  day  citizenship. 
Consequently  in  the  description  of  Pennsylvania  to  fol- 
low, historical  considerations  will  be  omitted  except 
when  necessary  to  make  plain  the  matter  under  consider- 
ation. 

We  need  go  no  further  back  than  January  1,  1874,  at 
which  time  the  present  Constitution  went  into  effect,  to 
arrive  at  the  basic  law  of  Pennsylvania.  In  general  struc- 
ture it  is  a  close  copy  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  although  the  newer  document  shows  greater  elab- 
oration and  provides  against  contingencies  which  exper- 
ience had  shown  were  sure  to  arise.  Both  instruments 
begin  with  the  same  words,  "We,  the  People,"  for  both 
draw  their  power  from  the  same  source,  the  popular 
mil. 

The  bill  of  rights,  which  was  an  afterthought  in  the 
national  Constitution,  holds  first  place  as  Article  1  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Constitution.  In  it  are  laid  dowTi  those 
great  principles  which  Anglo-Saxon  experience  has  found 
to  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  free  government.  A  few 
quotations  from  the  Pennsylvania  Constitution  will  il- 


8  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

lustrate  their  nature.  "All  men  are  born  equally  free 
and  independent."  "All  power  is  inherent  in  the  peo- 
ple, and  all  free  governments  are  founded  on  their 
authority  and  instituted  for  their  peace,  safety  and  hap- 
piness." "All  men  have  a  natural  and  indefeasible  right 
to  worship  Almighty  God  according  to  the  dictates  of 
their  own  consciences."  "Elections  shall  be  free  and 
equal."  "Trial  by  jury  shall  be  as  heretofore,  and  the 
right  thereof  remain  inviolate."  "The  printing  press 
shall  be  free  to  every  person  who  may  undertake  to 
examine  the  proceedings  of  the  legislature  or  any  branch 
of  government."  "No  person  shall,  for  the  same  of- 
fence, be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb,"  "Ex- 
cessive bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  im- 
posed, nor  cruel  punishments  inflicted."  "No  ex  post 
facto  law,  nor  any  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  con- 
tracts, or  making  irrevocable  any  grant  of  special  privi- 
leges or  immunities,  shall  be  passed."  "The  right  of  the 
citizens  to  bear  arms  in  defense  of  themselves  and  the 
State  shall  not  be  questioned." 

The  kinship  of  the  Pennsylvania  Constitution  with 
that  of  the  nation  is  not  only  verbal,  it  is  fundamental. 
The  theory  of  government  dominating  both  is  exactly 
the  same.  It  is  very  natural  that  this  should  be  so,  since 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has  given  satisfac- 
tion to  its  citizens  and  has  survived  tests  of  the  sever- 
est character,  so  that  Americans  have  become  proud  of 
it  and  are  not  ashamed  to  imitate  it.  That  the  close  par- 
allel of  the  Pennsylvania  Constitution  with  that  of  the 
United  States  is  an  imitation  and  not  a  spontaneous  out- 
growth of  similar  conditions  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
Pennsylvania's  first  Constitution,  adopted  in  1776,  short- 
ly after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  before  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  provided  for  quite  a 
different  scheme  of  government,  one  having  but  a  single 
legislative  chamber,  and  a  multiheaded  executive,  called 


STATE  AND  NATION.  9 

The  Supreme  Executive  Oounciil.  The  present  State 
Constitution,  following-  the  lead  of  its  great  example,  pro- 
vides for  a  legislature  of  two  branches  and  a  single 
headed  executive. 

Before  proceeding  further  it  is  important  that  we 
should  state  the  angle  of  approach.  All  properly  con- 
ducted government  is  unquestionably  a  service  to  the  peo- 
ple, but  there  is  a  clear  distinction  between  that  theory  of 
government  which  looks  upon  the  governing  powcn-  as 
merely  an  instrument  to  keep  the  peace  while  each  in- 
dividual works  out  his  own  salvation,  and  the  theory  that 
looks  upon  the  government  as  wielding,  in  behalf  of  the 
people  in  their  struggle  for  existence  and  fuller  life,  the 
power  gained  by  their  o^vn  co-operation. 

While  the  theories  are  distinct,  there  has  never  been 
any  sharp  distinction  in  practice.  The  governments  of 
State  and  nation  alike  have  added  function  after  function 
as  the  people  can^e  to  see  that  the  government  could  help 
them.  A  rough  classification  of  State  action  can,  how- 
ever, be  made  within  the  lines  of  the  two  theories  men- 
tioned, and  in  the  following  pages  such  governmental 
functions  as  belong  to  every  government  Avill  be  passed 
over  lightly  and  more  attention  bestowed  upon  tliose  as- 
pects of  the  government  in  which  it  is  directly  striving 
to  assist  its  citizens.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the 
functions  to  which  we  pay  less  attention  are  less  im- 
portant. They  are  of  the  very  mari'ow  of  the  State,  and, 
if  we  were  writing  from  a  legal  point  of  view,  we  should 
be  inclined  to  view  the  activities  now  to  be  most  empha- 
sized as  the  froth  of  the  subject.  But  others  have  writ- 
ten of  the  Constitution  from  the  legal  standpoint,^  and 
now  the  human  point  of  view  needs  to  be  considered. 


(4)  An  Examination  of  the  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania,  by 
Charles  R.  Buckalew,  Pliila.    Kay  &  Brother,  1883. 

Commentaries  on  the  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania,  by  Thomas 
Raeburn  White,  Phila.     T.  &  J.  W.  Johnson  Co.,"  1907. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THIJ  LEGISLATURE. 

IN  describing  the  govenunent  of  Pennsylvania  as  a 
great  social  agency,  it  is  fitting  that  we  should  begin 

with  the  Legislature,  for  this  is  the  branch  especially 
designed  to  discover  the  wants  of  the  people  and  to  meet 
them  by  legislation. 

Here  is  the  fountain  head  of  all  the  State 's  activities. 
While  the  executive  and  judicial  branches  of  the  govern- 
ment are  coordinate  with  the  legislative,  and  each  has 
its  domain  wherein  the  others  cannot  interfere,  the  legis- 
lative branch  has  a  peculiar  significance,  for  it  is  the 
great  originating  and  transforming  agency  of  the  State. 
The  other  branches  work  in  grooves,  the  one  enforcing 
the  laws  it  has  not  made,  the  other  interpreting  and  ap- 
plying them.  Consequently,  it  is  to  the  Legislature  that 
everyone  comes  who  feels  that  conditions  should  be 
changed.  There  are  always  individuals,  and  frequently 
organized  associations,  who  are  bending  every  energy  to 
get  something  through  the  legislature.  Probably  every 
reader  either  belongs  to  some  such  association  or  has 
been  urged  to  do  so.  Writing  to  your  Eepresentative  is 
one  of  the  most  elementary  forms  of  public  activity,  and 
is  frequently  undertaken  by  citizens  who  can  be  induced 
to  take  no  other  part  in  the  management  of  community 
affairs. 

The  legislative  power  of  Pennsylvania  is  vested  in  a 
G-eneral  Assembly  consisting  of  two  houses,  the  Senate 
and  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  two-chambered 
Legislature  is  now  the  standard  American  practice.  In 
fact  it  may  be  spoken  of  as  practically  universal  wher- 
ever representative  government  is  found.     There  have 

10 


THE   LEGISLATURE.  11 

come  suggestions  from  some  of  the  States  which  serve 
as  civic  experiment  stations  for  the  rest  of  the  country, 
that  the  State  Senates  should  be  abolished.  As  pointed 
out  above,  Pennsylvania  has  had  experience  with  a  single- 
chambered  Legislature  under  her  first  Constitution,  and 
promptly  changed  to  the  ordinary  two-chambered  system. 
It  does  not  seem  likely  that  we  shall  revert  to  our  primi- 
tive condition  in  this  respect.  However,  if  the  two 
Houses  were  exactly  similar  in  composition  and  method 
of  action,  it  would  be  difficult  to  see  the  value  of  main- 
taining both.  Therefore,  it  will  be  worth  while  to  note 
in  passing  how  far  the  two  bodies  are  similar,  and  how 
they  differ. 

It  should  ever  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  causes  which 
make  the  National  Senate  and  House  of  Eepresentatives 
such  different  bodies  do  not  operate  fully  in  the  case  of 
the  two  Houses  of  a  State  Legislature.  The  Congress- 
men represent  the  people  directly,  and  their  number  is 
proportionate  to  the  population.  The  Senators  repre- 
sent primarily  the  States,  and  their  number  is  fixed  by 
the  number  of  the  States,  irrespective  of  the  number  of 
their  inhabitants.  The  seventeenth  amendment,  provid- 
ing for  the  election  of  Senators  by  the  people,  will  tend 
to  lessen  the  distinction  between  Senators  and  Represen- 
tatives, but  the  dual  nature  of  our  government  and  its 
history  will  always  cause  a  marked  difference  to  exist 
between  the  two  bodies. 

In  the  case  of  the  State  government  the  difference  is 
entirely  artificial.  The  basis  of  representation  in  each 
body  is  an  arbitrary  district,  based  upon  population  and 
liable  to  change  with  each  reapportionment.  Even  the  ar- 
tificial differences,  however,  have  their  importance.  The 
Senate  is  the  smaller  body.  This  enhances  the  impor- 
tance of  the  individual  Senator.  The  term  of  the  Sena- 
tor.is  twice  that  of  the  Representative,  the  Senators  being 
elected  for  four  years  and  the  Representatives  for  two. 


12  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  Senate  changes  but  half  its  membership  each  session, 
which  makes  it  a  continuous  and  experienced  body,  while 
the  whole  membership  of  the  House  is  renewed  each  ses- 
sion, as  a  snake  sloughs  its  skin.  The  smaller  member- 
ship of  the  Senate  permits  business  to  be  transacted  with 
far  greater  dispatch  than  is  possible  in  the  House.  It 
also  makes  it  possible  to  arrange  action  by  personal  con- 
ference outside  the  Senate  chamber,  a  method  that  is  far 
more  difficult  with  the  business  of  the  House.  Proceed- 
ings in  the  Senate  are  usually  of  a  dull,  cut  and  dried 
nature  and  oratory  is  rare.  In  the  House  the  proceedings 
are  much  livelier.  The  great  size  of  the  hall  and  the  con- 
stant hum  of  conversation  put  a  premium  on  stentorian 
speaking,  and  as  it  is  difficult  for  the  floor  leaders  to  con- 
vey their  wishes  to  so  many  followers  with  the  requisite 
promptitude,  they  are  driven  to  frequent  speeches  so 
that  the  docile  members  may  know  what  is  expected  of 
them.  Members  of  the  House  who  have  been  elevated  to 
the  Senate  frequently  speak^  of  missing  the  livelier  atmos- 
phere of  the  lower  body. 

While  both  Houses  are  theoretically  of  equal  power, 
the  continuity  and  compactness  of  the  Senate  and  the 
general  traditions  of  nation  and  State  unite  to  make  the 
Senate,  in  practice,  the  more  powerful  body.  This  is 
recognized  by  the  party  leaders,  who,  when  they  accept 
representative  office  at  all,  are  to  be  found  in  the  Senate. 
In  turn,  their  presence  in  it  enhances  the  relative  im- 
portance of  that  body.  A  little  jealousy  occasionally 
crops  out  between  the  two  Houses,  and  the  Senate  has 
come  to  be  known — in  the  House — as  the  House  of  Lords, 
wjiile — in  the  retiring  rooms  of  the  Senate — its  coordi- 
nate body  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  the  Mad  House. 

Senators  are  supposed  to  be  somewhat  more  grave 
and  reverend  than  members  of  the  House,  so  the  former 
must  not  be  younger  than  twenty-five  years,  while  the 
latter  may  serve  at  twenty-one.     Both  must  have  been 


THE  LEGISLATURE.  13 

citizens  and  inhabitants  of  the  State  four  years,  and  in- 
habitants of  their  respective  districts  one  year,  and  must 
reside  in  their  respective  districts  during  their  term  of 
service. 

The  Senators  are  elected  from  districts  numbered 
from  one  to  fifty,  throughout  the  State.  The  Represen- 
tative districts  are  not  numbered,  except  where  a  county 
is  divided  into  several  representative  districts.  Thus  we 
would  speak  of  the  Sixth  Senatorial  District  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  the  Fifteenth  Representative  District  of  Phila- 
delphia County.  The  boundaries  of  the  districts  are  fixed 
by  law,  generally  spoken  of  as  apportionment  acts.  The 
Constitution  directs  these  acts  to  be  passed  after  each 
United  States  census  but  this  direction  is  frequently  dis- 
regarded. 

The  number  of  senatorial  districts  is  fixed  at  fifty, 
each  represented  by  one  Senator.  The  member- 
ship of  the  House  is  fixed  by  a  calculation, 
which  is  intended  to  keep  the  membership  ap- 
proximately at  two  hundred.  The  Constitution  lays 
down  elaborate  rules  for  the  determination  of  the 
districts  in  both  cases.  Among  these  are  a  number  of  re- 
strictive provisions.  No  county  is  to  form  a  separate 
senatorial  district,  unless  it  contains  four-fifths  of  a 
ratio  (a  ratio  is  one-fiftieth  of  the  total  population  of  tlie 
State),  except  where  the  adjoining  counties  are  each  en- 
titled to  one  or  more  Senators,  when  such  county  may  be 
assigned  a  Senator  on  less  than  four-fifths  and  exceeding 
one-half  of  a  ratio.  No  county  is  to  be  divided  unless  en- 
titled to  two  or  more  Senators.  One  of  the  most  im- 
portant restrictions  is  little  noticed.  **No  city  or  county 
shall  be  entitled  to  separate  representation  exceeding  one- 
sixth  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,"  ^  i.  e.,  no  more 
than  eight.  This  provision  evidently  reflects  a  fear  on 
the  part  of  the  State  as  a  wliole  of  the  growing  relative 

(1)   Const.     Art.  II,  Sec.  16. 


14  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

size  of  the  cities.  On  account  of  this  restriction,  Phila- 
delphia is  much  under-represented,  since  its  population 
entitles  it  to  eleven  Senators.  However,  this  under-repre- 
sentation  is  not  felt  as  a  practical  hardship,  since  the 
Philadelphia  delegation,  owing  to  its  compactness  and  to 
the  political  importance  of  the  city  as  a  whole,  exercises 
an  influence  disproportionate  to  its  numbers. 

The  very  elaborateness  of  the  constitutional  pro- 
vision for  senatorial  districts  has  defeated  its  own  ends. 
It  is  said  to  be  mathematically  impossible  to  draw  an  ap- 
portionment bill  that  will  be  entirely  constitutional.  Any- 
one with  a  liking  for  puzzles  can  ascertain  for  himself 
whether  this  is  true  or  not.  At  any  rate  the  present  ap- 
portionment is  not  constitutional.  To  illustrate  this, 
we  have  to  look  no  farther  than  the  case  of  Lancaster 
County,  which  is  divided  between  two  districts,  though 
having  a  population  not  greatly  in  excess  of  one  ratio. 

The  method  of  constructing  a  representative  appor- 
tionment is  quite  as  complicated,  but  not  so  mathemati- 
cally impossible,  because  the  total  number  is  not  fixed. 
The  Representative  ratio  is  ascertained  by  dividing  the 
population  of  the  State  by  two  hundred.  Every  county 
containing  less  than  five  ratios  has  one  Representative 
for  every  full  ratio,  and  an  additional  Representative 
when  the  surplus  exceeds  half  a  ratio,  but  each  county 
must  have  at  least  one  Representative.  When  a  county 
grows  large  enough  to  have  five  full  ratios,  it  cannot  have 
any  Representative  for  its  major  fraction  of  a  ratio. 
Again,  the  jealousy  of  the  populous  counties  is  displayed. 
Every  city  containing  a  population  equal  to  a  ratio  elects 
separately  its  proportion  of  the  Representatives  allot- 
ted to  the  county  in  which  it  is  located.  Every  city  en- 
titled to  more  than  four  Representatives,  and  every 
county  having  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  inhabi- 
tants is  divided  into  districts  of  compact  and  contiguous 
territory,  each  district  electing  its   owti  proportion   of 


THE  LEGISLATURE.  15 

representatives  according  to  its  population,  but  no  dis- 
trict elects  more  than  four  Representatives.  This  latter 
provision  explains  the  fact  that  some  districts  elect  more 
than  one  member,  as  the  Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth  of 
Philadelphia  County. 

The  General  Assembly  meets  at  twelve  o'clock  noon 
on  the  first  Tuesday  of  January  eveiy  second  year  (the 
odd  numbered  years).  Many  States  have  a  session  of 
their  Legislature  everj^  year.  In  these  States  the  Repre- 
sentatives are  either  legislating  or  campaigning  all  the 
time,  so  they  have  little  time  to  carry  on  any  normal  voca- 
tion, and  become  part  of  the  society  they  are  supposed  to 
represent.  Pennsylvania's  plan  of  one  session  every  two 
years  seems  to  be  as  satisfactory  a  scheme  as  can  bo  sug- 
gested. Special  sessions  may  be  called  by  the  Governor 
whenever  he  thinks  expedient,  but  such  a  session  can  con- 
sider only  the  subjects  mentioned  in  the  call. 

The  Constitution  provides  that  the  members  of  the 
General  Assembly  shall  be  paid;  tlie  amount  to  be  de- 
termined by  law.  Tlie  amount  now  fixed  is  $1500  for 
each  regular  session,  and  $500  for  a  special  session,  to- 
gether with  mileage  at  twenty  cents  a  mile  circular  (once 
to  Harrisburg  and  back)  and  also  together  with  one  hun- 
dred dollars'  worth  of  stamps  and  fifty  dollars  for 
stationery.  As  the  State  furnishes  a  bewildering  amount 
of  stationery  in  addition,  ranging  from  a  pen  point  to  a 
pearl  handled  knife  containing  a  bottle  opener  and  a  cork- 
screw, the  stationeiy  allowance  may  be  treated  as  that 
much  more  salary.  It  is  frequently  assumed  that  the 
salary  of  the  Senator  is  larger  than  that  of  the  Repre- 
sentative. This  is  not  the  case,  and  the  reason  resides 
deep  in  human  nature.  No  House  of  Representatives 
would  pass  a  bill  that  pro\aded  more  pay  for  Senators 
than  for  themselves.  The  same  is  true  of  the  national 
government.  August  as  a  United  States  Senator  is,  he 
receives  no  more  pay  than  the  youngest  member.     The 


16  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

legislators  think  that  the  salary  is  inadequate,  as  is  evi- 
denced by  the  regular  way  in  which  they  pass  bills  to 
increase  it  for  their  successors  (the  Constitution  forbids 
them  to  increase  it  for  themselves),-  and  the  governors 
seem  to  entertain  opposite  views,  judging  from  the  equal- 
ly regular  way  in  which  they  veto  these  bills. ^ 

The  Lieutenant  Grovemor  is,  under  the  Constitution, 
President  of  the  Senate,  where  he  has  no  vote  except  to 
break  a  tie.  Following  the  lead  of  the  national  Constitu- 
tion, i^ro vision  was  made  for  the  election  by  the  Senate 
itself  of  a  president  pro  tempore  to  perform  the  duties 
of  the  Lieutenant  Grovernor  in  case  of  his  absence  or  dis- 
ability, or  whenever  the  office  of  Lieutenant  Governor  is 
vacant.  Lieutenant  Governors  differ  very  much  in  the 
degree  to  which  they  exercise  their  functions  as  president 
of  the  Senate.  These  functions  have  remained  unexer- 
cised sufficiently  often  to  give  quite  an  importance  to  the 
office  of  president  pro  tempore.  When  the  president  of 
the  Senate  is  spoken  of,  without  further  designation,  it 
is  usually  the  president  pro  tempore,  and  not  the  Lieu- 
tenant Governor,  who  is  meant. 

The  House  is  presided  over  by  one  of  its  members 
elected  Speaker.  As  in  the  National  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, the  Speakership  is  an  office  of  great  power.  It  is 
usual  to  elect  the  leader  of  the  majority  party,  and  he  is 
not  expected  to  lay  down  his  partisanship  when  he  takes 
up  the  gavel.  While  it  is  never  considered  justifiable  to 
violate  settled  parliamentary  law  in  rendering  decisions 
for  partisan  purposes,  although  this  is  not  unknown,  yet 

(2)  Art.  II,  Sec.  8. 

The  proposed  New  York  constitution  of  1915  increased  the  pay 
of  legislators  in  that  State  from  $1,500  to  $2,500  per  annum.  Art. 
Ill,  See.  8. 

(3)  The  last  effort  to  increase  the  salary  of  legislators  was  made 
in  the  session  of  1917,  when  a  bill  was  passed,  (Housa  Bill  No.  751) 
raising  the  salary  to  $2,500  a  year,  but  met  the  usual  fate  at  the  hands 
of  the  Governor. 


THE   LEGISLATURE.  17 

in  the  appointment  of  committees,  and  in  the  reference 
of  bills,  as  well  as  in  a  multitude  of  subtle  ways,  he  makes 
his  power  count  for  the  ends  of  his  party.  For  many 
years  past  there  has  been  growing  in  Congress  the  feel- 
ing that  the  Speaker  was  too  much  an  autocrat,  and  final- 
ly, by  what  might  almost  be  called  a  revolution,  he  was 
deprived  of  the  greatest  source  of  his  power,  the  ap- 
pointment of  committees.  The  session  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Legislature  in  1913  met  after  the  election  at  which 
Theodore  Roosevelt  swept  the  State,  and  naturally  felt 
inclined  to  show  as  much  of  a  progressive  spirit  in  its 
0A\Ti  organization  as  possible.  Consequently,  before  a 
Speaker  was  elected,  a  committee  on  committees  was  con- 
stituted, charged  with  the  duty,  among  other  things,  of 
revising  the  rules  and  nominating  members  for  the  vari- 
ous standing  committees.  Thus  the  Speaker  was  shorn 
of  much  of  his  appointing  power,  and,  by  the  revised 
rales,  the  undue  power  of  committees  over  bills  in  their 
charge  was  removed.  A  reaction  at  the  next  session  has 
restored  to  the  Speaker  his  appointing  power,  and 
strengthened  the  grip  of  committees  upon  the  bills  re- 
ferred to  them,  but  many  traces  of  the  advances  made  in 
1913  still  remain,  and  it  is  likely  to  be  some  time  before 
the  speakership  will  be  the  despotic  power  that  once  it 
was. 

From  the  foregoing  brief  summary,  it  may  be  seen 
how  closely  the  legislative  branch  of  the  government  of 
Pennsylvania  is  modeled  after  that  of  the  Federal  Grov- 
ernment,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  State  government 
is  a  unit  and  not  a  federal  aggregation.  In  the  next  chap- 
ters some  account  of  its  methods  of  working  will  be 
i>iven. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  LEGISLATUKE  AT  WORK. 

A  FAIR  idea  of  the  Legislature  cannot  be  gained 
by  a  casual  visit.  Its  moods  are  diverse;  its  ac- 
tivities at  different  times  radically  different.  One 
visitor  might  report  that  the  Legislature  was  utterly 
careless  and  droned  through  its  vital  public  work  mthout 
bestowing  any  attention  upon  it  whatever.  Another 
might  describe  it  as  electric  with  interest  and  unceasingly 
at  work.  One  might  find  it  solemn  and  dignified,  another 
condemn  it  as  made  up  of  peculiarly  unrestrained  school- 
boys old  enough  to  know  better.  Each  would  be  telling 
the  truth  as  he  saw  it,  but  the  vision  would  be  too  partial 
to  be  true.  It  is  hoped,  as  far  as  may  be  in  the  restraint 
of  a  few  chapters,  to  give  a  fairly  balanced  picture  of  the 
Legislature  as  it  actually  is.  Most  of  what  will  be  said  is 
particularly  applicable  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
but  in  all  essentials  of  procedure  the  Houses  are  much 
alike.  Much,  too,  is  equally  applicable  to  any  of  our 
State  Legislatures,  or,  indeed,  of  any  representative  body 
anywhere.  But  as  our  aim  is  to  describe  our  Legislature 
rather  than  to  present  a  study  in  comparative  legislative 
procedure,  little  attempt  will  be  made  to  discriminate  be- 
tween what  is  peculiar  to  Pennsylvania  and  what  is  typi- 
cal of  legislative  bodies  in  general. 

The  doings  of  the  Legislature  are  conditioned  by  three 
sources  of  authority.  First  and  most  important  is  the 
Constitution,  which  contains  many  provisions  regulating 
legislative  procedure.  Next  come  the  rules,  each  House 
adopting  its  own  at  the  beginning  of  each  session.  Final- 
ly, there  is  an  intangible  body  of  habit  and  tradition 
M^hich  has  gradually  grown  up  and  has  a  great  influence 

18 


THE  LEGISLATURE  AT  WORK.  19 

on  the  way  things  are  done,  but  which  cannot  be  reduced 
to  writing  or  cited  in  a  footnote.  In  the  constitutional 
directions  we  may  find  a  thread  to  guide  us  in  the  de- 
scription of  the  Legislature. 

Let  us  suppose  that  we  have  come  to  Harrisburg  in- 
tent on  having  some  idea  transmuted  into  law.  We  first 
look  up  the  Senator  or  Representative  from  our  district, 
and  present  the  matter  to  him.  Then  commences  our  edu- 
cation. We  learn  that  '*No  law  shall  be  passed  except  by 
bill. ' '  ^  Clearly  then  it  is  necessary  to  reduce  our  idea 
to  the  form  of  a  bill.  The  first  clause  of  a  bill  is  known 
as  the  enacting  clause,  and  reads  uniformly  as  follows: 
*'Be  it  enacted  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  General  Assembly  met."  The  exact  words 
are  here  given  because  in  the  laws  as  published,  and  else- 
where, they  are  generally  abbreviated  to,  *'Be  it  enacted, 
etc.",  and  it  is  not  always  easy  to  lay  hands  on  the  pre- 
cise formula  when  wanted,  though  the  bill  is  not  properly 
dra^\TL  without  it. 

We  are  also  told  by  our  Representative  that  the  rules 
of  the  House  require  that  all  bills  should  be  presented  in 
triplicate.  One  copy  goes  to  the  printer,  one  to  the  news- 
paper correspondents  and  one  is  the  official  copy  that  is 
considered  by  the  committee  to  which  it  is  referred. 

Wlion  we  have  our  bill  in  shape,  we  ask  our  Represen- 
tative to  introduce  it,  and  he  is  quite  sure  to  consent.  It 
is  the  prerogative  of  the  humblest  or  most  foolish  citizen 
to  hiave  a  bill  introduced,  but,  unless  we  convince  our 
Representative  of  the  advisability  of  the  measure,  he  is 
apt  to  introduce  it  *'by  request."  These  simple  words 
endorsed  on  a  bill  are  its  death  warrant.  The  members 
argue,  cogently  enough,  that  if  the  sponsor  of  a  bill  is 
anxious  to  dissociate  his  personality  from  it  there  must 
be  something  wrong  somewhere. 

(1)  Const.  Art.  HI,  Sec.  1. 


20  STATE   GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

If  our  bill  is  of  a  political  nature,  its  fate,  of  course, 
will  be  determined  by  the  political  complexion  of  the 
Legislature,  and  no  efforts  that  we  or  our  Eepresentative 
can  make  will  have  much  influence  on  the  result.  How- 
ever, let  us  imagine  that  the  sponsor  of  our  bill  adopts  it 
as  his  own,  and  that  it  is  not  of  such  a  nature  as  to  cause 
a  division  along  party  lines,  and  then  let  us  watch  its 
progress. 

' '  No  bill  shall  be  considered  unless  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee, returned  therefrom,  and  printed  for  the  use  of  the 
members."  ^ 

Our  bill  being,  as  we  have  supposed,  of  a  non-political 
character,  the  Speaker  mil  probably  refer  it  to  whatever 
committee  the  title  suggests.  This  may  be  any  of  the 
forty-one  standing  committees  of  the  House,  which  vary 
considerably  from  one  another  in  importance.  Some  of 
them  are  merely  names,  and  serve  no  other  purpose  than 
to  allow  new  members  to  publish  the  committee  assign- 
ments to  which  their  talents  have  entitled  them.  That 
their  committees  never  meet  need  not  be  explained  to  the 
folks  up  home.  The  most  powerful  committee,  and  in 
a  certain  sense,  the  most  important,  is  the  Committee  on 
Appropriations,  concerning  which  more  will  be  said 
when  we  are  treating  of  the  State's  expenditures.  The 
committee  which  deals  with  the  widest  range  of  questions 
and  which  is  most  important  except  from  the  standpoint 
of  money,  is  the  Committee  on  Judiciary  General.  This 
is  the  lawyers '  committee,  and  its  membership  is  entirely 
recruited  from  members  of  the  bar.  To  it  come  all  ques- 
tions of  a  technically  legal  nature,  and  many  others  upon 
which  the  opinion  of  a  group  of  especially  trained  men 
is  desired.  Its  chairman  is  apt  to  be  floor  leader  for  the 
majority  party.  The  Committee  on  Judiciary  Special 
has  of  late  years  come  to  be  of  very  much  the  same  nature 
as  the  Judiciary  General.    Its  membership  is  also  com- 

(2)   Const.    Art.  Ill,  Sec.  2. 


THE  LEGISLATURE  AT  WORK.  21 

posed  of  lawyers,  and  it  performs  much  the  same  work. 
In  times  past,  however,  it  had  the  reputation  of  being  the 
place  where  the  Speaker  sent  bills  he  desired  suppressed. 
Hence  its  popular  name  of  "Pickle  Committee."  An- 
other important  committee  is  that  on  Municipal  Corpora- 
tions, to  which  comes  a  constant  stream  of  bills  relating 
to  the  various  municipalities  of  the  State.  Other  com- 
mittees are  important  but  not  so  busy,  though  on  oc- 
casions they  are  worked  very  hard,  as  for  instance,  the 
Committee  on  Education  when  it  Avas  considering  the 
School  Code,  or  the  Committee  on  Agriculture  when 
someone  has  introduced  a  bill  permitting  oleomargarine 
manufacturers  to  employ  artificial  color. 

So  our  bill  has  been  almost  automatically  **  referred 
to  a  oonmiittee."  But  ''returned  therefrom" — ah!  that 
is  a  different  matter.  In  committee  is  about  the  only 
place  where  bills  get  any  thoughtful  consideration,  and, 
it  must  frankly  be  confessed,  they  get  little  enough  there. 
This  is  due  partly  to  the  fact  that  many  members,  on  ac- 
count of  their  limited  outlook,  are  not  to  be  expected  to 
be  in  a  position  to  consider  matters  beyond  the  particular 
line  in  which  they  have  been  trained;  and  partly  to  con- 
flicting interest  in  other  things,  for  a  baseball  game  has 
been  knoA\Ti  to  render  a  quorum  impossible.  However, 
neither  of  these  reasons  would  be  serious  were  it  not  for 
one  much  deeper,  the  fact  that  the  people,  in  their  lust 
for  new  law,  have  overloaded  their  law  machine. 

To  prepare  himself  to  appreciate  this  point,  let  the 
reader  open  the  last  volume  of  laws  and  pick  out  a  statute 
upon  a  subject  not  familiar  to  him.  Then  let  him  suppose 
himself  in  the  position  of  a  committeeman  who  is  called 
upon  to  consider  that  law  while  still  only  a  bill.  First 
let  him  ascertain  the  state  of  the  present  law  on  the 
subject,  then  let  him  ascertain  how  the  bill  would  modify 
the  law,  and  lastly  whether  such  modification  is  desir- 
able  or  not.     If  the   reader  will   do   this   as   carefully 


22  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

as  he  thinks  it  ought  to  be  done  before  the  change  is  en- 
forced on  the  whole  State,  he  will  be  in  a  position  to 
realize  the  meaning  of  the  fact  that  at  the  session  of  1917 
there  were  introduced  into  the  Legislature  2549  bills.^ 
No. possible  human  industry  could  be  fair  to  them  all. 
Still,  much  could  be  done  if  there  were  but  opportunity 
to  get  at  it.  But  consider  a  typical  day's  work.  The 
Legislator  gets  up  as  early  as  he  can  after  being  hard 
at  work  till  late  the  night  before.  He  is  at  his  desk,  we 
will  say,  at  nine  o'clock.  Not  a  desk  in  a  quiet  office, 
but  out  in  the  ofjen  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  unpro- 
tected from  the  attentions  of  fellow  members,  newspaper 
correspondents  and  constituents.  His  mail  box  is  bulg- 
ing. Were  he  a  Congressman  his  government-paid  clerk 
would  have  had  his  letters  opened,  classified,  the  easy 
ones  answered,  and  the  information  collected  for  answer- 
ing the  others.  Not  so  with  the  Legislator.  He  opens 
them  all  with  his  own  hand  and  answers  them  all,  some 
on  the  spot  with  pen  and  ink,  and  those  that  can  wait,  he 
defers  till  his  return  home.  On  his  desk  lies  the  calendar 
of  the  bills  that  will  be  voted  on  during  the  day.  On 
each  he  must  vote  aye  or  no.  Middle  ground  is  denied 
him.  And  for  each  aye  or  no  he  must  stand  ready  to  ex- 
plain at  any  future  time.  Before  him  also  lies  the  text 
of  the  bills,  piled  up  in  a  mountain  of  print.  Prudence 
would  dictate  that,  at  least,  he  should  read  them.  But 
soon  the  short  hour  has  sped  and  the  gavel  falls.  Then, 
till  half  past  twelve,  the  session  is  in  full  swing.  Some 
little  work  he  may  do  while  the  orators  drone  or  the  roll 
call  patters,  but  only  with  a  divided  attention.  His 
enemies  must  not  catch  him  off  his  guard.  Lunch  is  taken 
hurriedly,  often  with  the  work  of  the  morning  mulled  over 
again,  for  the  members  frequently  eat  together  and  then 
always  talk  shop.    At  two  o  'clock  comes  an  hour  of  com- 

(3)  1603  in  the  House  and    946    in    the    Senate.      Information 

furnished  by  the  Legislative  Reference  Bureau. 


THE  LEGISLATURE  AT  WORK.  23 

mittee  meetings.  Then  a  session  of  the  House  till  5.30 
or  6.00.  A  pause  for  dinner  and  an  evening 's  work  either 
in  committee  or,  towards  the  close  of  the  session,  in  the 
House  itself. 

Perhaps  the  members  should  take  the  bills  home  with 
them  to  study  them  Fridays  and  Saturdays.  But  who  are 
the  members?  Not  retired  capitalists,  but  men  of  busi- 
ness or  professional  men,  and  at  home  they  find  a  week's 
correspondence  piled  up  and  a  week's  knotty  points 
saved  for  the  attention  of  the  head  of  the  house,  or  irri- 
tated clients  whose  matters  have  been  postponed,  or  side- 
tracked patients  whose  maladies  will  not  brook  delay.  To 
do  a  week 's  work  in  two  days  is  hard  enough  of  itself,  but 
when  enlivened  with  political  conferences  and  delegations 
of  constituents,  it  is  certainly  not  conducive  to  the  study 
of  billts.  Tlie  outstandiiiu'  fact  is :  There  i.s  no  quiet  time 
when  bills  can  be  studied. 

But  to  return  to  our  bill.  It.  had  been  referred  to 
committee,  but  not  yet  returned  therefrom.  We  are  very 
lucky  if  it  has  been  referred  to  a  committee  of  which  its 
sponsor  is  a  member,  because  then  he  can  see  that  it 
gets  attention.  Neglect  is  as  fatal  to  bills  as  to  babies. 
If  no  one  has  any  objection  to  the  bill,  it  may  be  reported 
with  a  favorable  recommendation  very  promptly.  If  the 
bill  is  of  any  importance,  however,  there  is  in  all  proba- 
bility some  interest  in  the  State  that  will  object.  This  in- 
terest will  get  in  touch  with  some  member  on  the  Conmait- 
tee  and  gain  his  influence  against  the  bill.  Then  prob- 
ably a  hearing  will  be  held  and  we  and  our  opponents  will 
be  allowed  to  present  arguments  to  the  committee.  Per- 
haps a  subcommittee  will  be  appointed  to  give  closer  at- 
tention to  the  bill.  The  enemies  of  the  bill  will  try  in 
every  way  possible  to  cause  delay,  hoping  by  obstructive 
tactics  to  keep  the  bill  back  till  it  fails  of  passage  for 
pure  want  of  time.  In  some  sessions  this  is  easier  to 
achieve  than  in  others,  but  in  all  sessions  there  is  a  ten- 


24  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

dency  to  dawdle  at  first,  so  that  work  gets  into  a  fearful 
jam  at  the  end  and  much  is  left  undone.  So  our  Eepre- 
sentative  must  be  diligent.  If  it  becomes  evident  that 
the  committee  is  delaying  the  bill  it  may  be  necessary  to 
introduce  a  resolution  in  the  House  to  discharge  the  com- 
mittee from  further  consideration  of  the  bill.  This  can- 
not be  done  until  the  committee  has  had  the  bill  for  ten 
days,  and  is  a  desperate  remedy  at  best,  for  the  com- 
mittee has  a  very  sharp  retort.  It  may  return  the  bill 
with  a  negative  recommendation,  a  treatment  most  del- 
eterious to  a  bill.^  Therefore,  diplomacy  requires  that 
we  should  get,  if  possible,  a  voluntary  approval  of  the 
bill,  and  probably  we  shall  get  it,  for  few  bills  with  strong 
backing  are  now  killed  in  committee,  though  our  patience 
may  have  occasioned  the  loss  of  precious  time. 

So  our  bill  has  been  ''returned  therefrom."  Now  it 
must  be  ''printed  for  the  use  of  the  members." 

Whatever  may  be  said  against  the  actions  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Legislature,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the 
requirement  of  printing  bills  for  the  use  of  the  members 
has  been  lived  up  to  both  in  letter  and  in  spirit.  In  this 
respect  Pennsylvania,  in  its  most  unregenerate  days,  sur- 
passed Wisconsin,  even  after  that  State  had  become 
conscious  of  its  ' '  Idea. ' '  ^  Not  only  are  the  bills  printed 
when  returned  from  committee,  but  it  has  long  been  the 

(4)  Until  1913  a  negative  recommendation  was  well  nigh  fatal, 
for  the  iniles  provided  that  a  bill  returned  with  a  negative  recom- 
mendation could  not  be  considered  by  the  House  unless  placed  upon 
the  calendar  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  fonr  members,  enough  to 
pass  the  bill  finall3\  The  purpose  of  the  rules'  revision  of  1913  was 
to  limit  the  power  both  of  the  speaker  and  committees  over  the 
action  of  the  House  itself,  so  it  provided  that  the  vote  of  sixty 
members  is  enough  both  to  discharg'e  a  committee  and  to  place  a 
bill  upon  the  calendar  if  returned  with  a  negative  recommendation. 
The  present  (1917)  rule  is  that  sixty  votes  will  discharge  a  committee 
and  a  majority  of  those  voting  place  a  negative  bill  on  the  calendar. 

(5)  cf.  The  Wisconsin  Idea.  pp.  194-195-196.  The  MacMillan 
Company,  New  York,  1912. 


THE  LEGISLATURE  AT  WORK.  25 

regular  practice  of  the  House  and  occasionally  of  the 
Senate,  to  have  them  printed  as  soon  as  introduced.  This 
is  a  most  wholesome  method  of  letting  in  the  light  on  the 
doings  of  the  Legislature.  Also,  the  bills  are  reprinted 
when  amended,  and  cannot  be  acted  upon  until  re- 
printed.''    Conference  reports  also,  are  printed. 

"Every  bill  shall  be  read  at  length  on  three  different 
days  in  each  House."  '^  This  provision  is  observed  in  the 
spirit,  however  sadly  shattered  in  the  letter.  The  real 
purpose  of  the  provision  is  to  prevent  undue  haste  and 
to  insure  that  no  bill  can  be  passed  in  less  than  five  days ' 
time.  This  much  is  strictly  adhered  to,  but  no  set  of 
mortal  men  could  endure  to  sit  while  the  mass  of  legis- 
lation before  the  Houses  was  read  word  for  word,  at 
length.  Occasionally,  for  filibustering  purposes,  just  this 
is  insisted  upon.  Toward  the  end  of  the  session  of  1909 
a  filibuster  was  being  conducted  against  the  school  code. 
This  enormous  bill,  containing  hundreds  of  sections,  had 
to  meet  detemiined  opposition  to  many  of  its  provisions, 
and,  merely  for  the  purpose  of  delay,  the  opponents  of 
the  measure  demanded  that  it  be  read  word  for  word. 
The  weary  night  dragged  on.  The  weary  clerks  droned 
on,  while  a  vigilant  filibusterer  sat  at  their  feet  and,  with 
finger  on  page,  followed  the  text  to  see  that  nothing  was 
omitted.  After  a  while  the  clerks  collapsed  entirely  and 
volunteers  from  the  members  took  up  the  work.  Grad- 
ually the  members  drifted  out,  or  went  to  sleep  in  their 
chairs.  If  a  quoiTim  remained,  it  is  certain  that  less  than 
a  quorum  was  awake.  At  last  it  struck  some  original  soul 
that  the  constitutional  requirement  would  be  satisfied  if 
several  read  at  once,  beginning  at  different  places.  So  a 
reading  squad  of  ten  was  organized  and  all  read  simul- 
taneously.    The  scene  that  followed  suggested  a  strike 

(6)  Const.   Art.  Ill,  Sec.  4. 

(7)  Const.    Art.  IH,  Sec.  4. 


26  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA, 

on  the  tower  of  Babel.  The  idea  was,  no  doubt,  unsound 
constitutionally,  but  practically  it  broke  up  the  filibuster 
and  saved  the  school  code  for  the  more  dignified  death  of 
the  Governor's  axe.  At  the  next  session,  however,  a 
similar  bill  was  passed  and  signed. 

Our  bill,  having  been  reported  "as  committed,"  or 
"as  amended,"  is  now  upon  the  calendar  of  business  of 
the  House,  under  the  heading.  Bills  on  first  reading.  When 
that  order  is  reached  they  are  read  (?)  by  the  clerk  and 
adopted  by  the  House  viva  voce.  That  the  bills  shall  be 
adopted  on  first  reading  without  objection  is  the  general 
practice.  Very  occasionally,  an  obnoxious  bill  will  be 
attacked  on  first  reading,  though  it  is  not  considered  good 
form  to  do  so,  because,  as  such  an  attack  would  be  very 
unexpected,  the  friends  of  the  bill  would  be  taken  off  their 
guard.  Sometimes  the  attack  is  made  at  this  stage  sim- 
ply to  serve  warning  that  the  bill  is  so  disliked  that  it 
will  be  attacked  at  every  possible  opportunity.  If  a 
real  opposition  does  develop,  the  friends  of  the  measure 
insist  on  a  roll  call  and  the  same  kind  of  a  contest  takes 
place  as  would  normally  occur  at  a  later  stage.  In  case 
the  bill  passed  first  reading,  a  similar  fight  would  occur 
on  each  subsequent  reading  and  this  would  tend  to  re- 
quire all  forensic  work  to  be  in  triplicate.  This  fact  tends 
to  restrict  the  attack  on  bills  on  first  reading  to  rare  in- 
stances. We  may  feel  quite  confident  that  our  bill  will 
pass  first  reading  as  a  matter  of  mere  routine.  Then  it 
finds  its  place  on  the  calendar  of  bills  on  second  reading. 
This  stage  is  by  no  means  a  matter  of  routine.  For  any 
important  bill  it  is  a  period  of  storm  and  stress,  for  it  is 
the  stage  provided  by  the  rules  for  the  offering  of  amend- 
ments. Upon  each  bill  the  House  ought,  in  accordance 
with  its  rules,  to  go  into  committee  of  the  whole.  In  the 
committee  of  the  whole  the  rules  are  relaxed  and  a  more 
general  and  informal  discussion  is  supposed  to  be  possi- 
ble.   In  actual  practice,  however,  there  is  little  advantage 


THE  LEGISLATURE  AT  WORK.  27 

in  going  into  committee,  so  the  Speaker's  formula,  ''Will 
the  House  dispense  with  the  Committee  of  the  Whole — 
Dispensed  with,"  has  become  a  matter  of  routine.  At 
this  crisis  of  the  bill's  career  it  is  well  that  its  outside 
friends  should  be  near  to  counsel  the  sponsor,  for  by 
judicious  concession  on  unessential  points  the  bill  may 
come  through  intact.  Also,  apparently  harmless  but  actu- 
ally destinictive  amendments  must  be  opposed  with  every 
weapon  at  command. 

If  our  bill  comes  through  second  reading,  it  takes  its 
place  upon  the  third  reading  calendar.  Passing  a  bill 
on  third  reading  is  usually  as  much  a  matter  of  routine 
as  passing  it  on  first,  but  then  comes  final  passage.  Un- 
der tlie  Constitution  the  yeas  and  nays  must  bo  taken. 
The  lines  of  battle  are  dra^\Ti  and  the  real  test  occurs. 

To  pass  a  bill  finally  requires — not  a  majority  of 
those  present — but  a  majority  of  all  the  members 
whether  present  or  not.  If  one  more  than  half  the  House 
were  present,  a  quorum  would  be  present  and  the  House 
could  do  business,  but  one  member  could  veto  every  bill 
he  wished.  The  effect  of  this  provision  is  far  reaching. 
While  the  attendance  is,  on  the  Avhole,  very  good,  there 
are  always  some  absentees  and  occasionally  a  consider- 
able number.  Under  the  rule  mentioned  above,  to  be 
absent  has  all  the  practical  effect  of  voting  against  every 
bill  considered  during  the  absence.  Knowing  this,  mem- 
bers who  really  oppose  bills,  but  who  for  some  reason 
desire  not  to  be  recorded  against  them,  refrain  from  vot- 
ing. The  uninitiated  may  think  this  a  neutral  position, 
but  the  bill  would  not  have  been  more  injured  had  such 
a  member  voted  directly  against  it.  A  bill  will  frequently 
have  a  far  greater  number  of  affirmative  than  negative 
votes,  but  still  fail  to  reach  the  magic  number  of  one  hun- 
dred and  four. 

While  roll  call  is  required  on  the  final  passage  of  a 
bill,  it  is  frequently  had  at  other  stages  and  on  other  mat- 


28  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ters.  The  different  practice  of  State  and  nation  in  this 
regard  is  interesting.  A  comparison  of  the  provisions 
relating  to  yea  and  nay  voting  in  the  Pennsylvania  and 
United  States  Constitntions  ^  reveals  that  it  is  much  eas- 
ier to  require  a  roll  call  in  the  State  than  in  the  nation, 
especially  under  the  rule  of  the  Pennsylvania  House 
which  enables  two  members  to  require  a  roll  call  on  any 
question.  This  difference  seems  aptly  fitted  to  the  con- 
ditions under  which  the  two  bodies  work.  In  Congress 
there  is  a  tremendous  amount  of  filibustering,  and  the 
roll  call  is  one  of  the  readiest  instruments  of  such  tac- 
tics. If  a  roll  call  could  be  ordered  on  any  question  by 
two  members,  it  would  be  possible  for  a  very  small  group 
to  tie  up  the  whole  House  for  an  indefinite  period.  In  the 
Pennsylvania  Legislature  a  filibuster  is  very  rare.  Even 
legitimate  debate  is  received  very  impatiently,  and  the 
chief  evil,  in  the  way  of  procedure,  is  a  tendency  to  jam 
through  everything  without  due  consideration.  Conse- 
quently, the  power  of  demanding  roll  calls  is  seldom 
abused.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  very  valuable  in  making 
the  members  vote  according  to  their  representative  opin- 
ions rather  than  according  to  their  private  opinions.  A 
representative  opinion  is  that  which  a  member  wishes  his 
constituents   to  believe    he    entertains.      Therefore,    in 

(8)  ".  .  .  no  bill  shall  become  a  law,  unless  on  its  final 
passage  the  vote  be  taken  by  j'eas  and  nays,  the  names  of  the  persons 
A-oting-  for  and  against  the  same  be  entered  on  the  journal,  and  a 
majority  of  the  members  elected  to  each  House  be  recorded  thereon 
as  voting  in  its  favor."  (Penna.  Const.  Art.  Ill,  Sec.  4.) 

"The  yeas  and  nays  of  the  members  on  any  question  shall,  at  the 
desire  of  any  two  of  them,  be  entered  on  the  Journals,  and  the  mem- 
bers shall  have  the  right  to  insert  the  reasons  of  their  votes  on  the 
Journals."   (Rule  of  the  Penna.  House  No.  52.) 

"Each  House  shall  keep'  a  Journal  of  its  Proceedings,  and  from 
time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  parts  as  may  in  their 
Judgment  require  Secrecy;  and  the  Yeas  and  Nays  of  the  members 
of  either  House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  desire  of  one-fifth  of 
those  present,  be  entered  on  the  Journal."  (U.  S.  Const.  Sec.  5,  Clause 
3.) 


THE  LEGISLATURE  AT  WORK.  29 

any  matter  in  which  his  action  becomes  a  public  record, 
he  votes  his  representative  opinion,  but  whenever  he  can 
influence  legislative  results  without  his  action  being  re- 
corded, he  is  apt  to  act  according  to  his  private  opinion. 
Many  actions  of  the  House  are  taken  by  means  of  a  viva 
voce  vote,  where  a  record,  of  course,  is  impossible. 
Notably  is  this  so  in  adopting  amendments.  An  amend- 
ment, however,  is  often  vital  to  the  value  of  a  bill,  so  in 
order  to  secure  that  members  shall  vote  their  represen- 
tative rather  than  their  private  opinions  on  vital  amend- 
ments, it  is  frequently  necessary  to  insist  on  a  roll  call. 
It  is  not  at  all  unusual  to  hear  a  disabling  amendment  to 
a  bill  carried  with  an  overwhelming  shout,  while  on  roll 
call  the  necessary  majority  to  adopt  it  cannot  be  found. 

If  our  bill  has  achieved  the  necessary  number  of  votes 
it  is  si.gned  by  the  Speaker,  in  the  presence  of  the  House, 
as  is  required  by  the  Constitution.^  It  is  then  messaged 
to  the  Senate  where  it  is  again  referred  to  committee  and 
must  travel  the  same  road  as  before.  Some  Senator  must 
now  be  induced  to  interest  himself  in  it,  for  the  member 
who  introduced  it  in  the  House  can  do  little  for  it  in  the 
upper  body.  Senate  committees  are  notoriously  more 
tenacious  of  bills  than  are  House  committees,  and  the 
Senate's  rules  have  not  been  liberalized  for  the  purpose 
of  making  committees  disgorge,  as  have  those  of  the 
House. 

Should  our  bill  finally  pass  in  the  Senate,  it  will  be 
sent  to  the  Governor,  wlio  makes  it  a  law  by  signing  it, 
or  destroys  it  with  his  veto.  A  vetoed  bill  can  only  be 
resurrected  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  both  Houses,  and  in 
Pennsylvania  the  passing  of  a  bill  over  a  veto  is  a  rare 
occurrence. 


(9)  Const.  Art.  Ill,  Sec.  9. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  LEGISLATURE  AT  PLAY. 

IF  the  boy  is  the  father  of  the  man,  the  man  is  some- 
times such  a  large  chip  off  the  old  block  as  to  be  diffi- 
cult to  distinguish  from  his  progenitor.  Perhaps  it 
is  the  suggestion  of  the  schoolroom  surrounding  the  Rep- 
resentative on  every  side  that  carries  him  irresistibly  back 
to  the  blithe  days  of  boyhood.  There  he  sits  at  a  little 
desk,  with  pencils  and  pens  and  erasers  and  tablets  under 
the  lid,  and  keeps  order  for  long  hours,  while  up  above 
sits  the  Speaker,  like  a  stern  teacher,  watching  conduct 
with  an  eagle  eye. 

At  first  the  new  dignity  of  being  a  part  of  the  govern- 
ment of  a  mighty  commonwealth  sits  heavy  on  the  mem- 
ber, and  keeps  him  an  adult.  But  as  the  session  drags 
on  and  he  becomes  more  familiar  mth  the  Speaker  and  the 
Sergeant-at-Arms,  the  boy  begins  to  crop  out.  Usually 
the  first  symptoms  appear  with  the  opening  of  the  base- 
ball season  in  the  Spring.  When  the  great  windows  of 
the  hall  of  the  House  stand  open,  and  the  squirrels  frisk 
on  the  lawns  of  Capitol  Hill,  then  the  quorum  will  dimin- 
ish and  the  relative  merits  of  the  Lancaster  and  Harris- 
burg  teams  rank  mth  the  fate  of  the  oleo  bill. 

About  this  time  there  is  apt  to  come  to  final  passage  • 
some  bill  concerning  dogs,  relative  perhaps  to  their  tax- 
ation, muzzling,  protection,  what  not.  The  clerk  calls  the 
roll.  Instead  of  the  stentorian  ''aye"  or  ''no,"  there 
comes  a  succession  of  barks,  snarls,  yaps  and  grunts. 
Dog  bills  always  seem  to  excite  the  risibilities  of  the 
House.  In  the  following  excerpt  from  the  Record,  which 
will  serve  to  give  some  idea  of  legislative  pleasantry,  the 
sympathetic  reader  will  realize  that  much  is  lost  through 
reduction  to  cold  print. 
30 


THE  LEGISLATURE  AT   PLAY.  31 

There  was  under  discussion  "An  act  to  provide  for 
the  registration,  taxation  and  identification  of  dogs,  pre- 
scribing penalties  for  its  violation  and  means  for  its  en- 
forcement, and  appropriating  the  money  raised  by  such 
taxation. ' ' 

Mr.  Cochrane: On  the  second  page  ol  the 

the  bill  in  line  18,  the  provision  is  that  the  dog  shall  wear  a 
metallic  tag  which  shall  be  stamped  or  engraved  with  the  licensed 
number  in  figures.  Now,  suppose  the  dog  should  get  into  a  fight 
and  the  other  dog  should  either  tear  it  off  or  swallow  it,  then 
this  dog  would  be  liable  to  the  fine  prescribed  by  this  bill. 

Mr.  Young:  Mr.  Speaker. 

The  Speaker:  The  gentleman  from  Clinton,  Mr.  Young. 

Mr.  Yomig:  Mr.  Speakei',  I  desire  to  interrogate  the  gentle- 
man  from  Armstrong,   Mr.   Cochrane. 

The  Speaker:  The  gentleman  from  Clinton,  Mr.  Young,  de- 
sires to  interrogate  the  gentleman  from  Armstrong,  Mr.  Cochrane. 
Will  the  gentleman  permit  himself  to  be  interrogated  ? 

Mr.  Cochrane:   Mr.  Speaker,  certainly. 

Mr.  Young:  Mr.  Speaker,  did  I  understand  the  gentleman 
from  Armstrong  to  say  that  he  said  this  \\\K>n  his  scientific 
knowledge  of  dogs? 

Mr.  Cochrane:  Mr.  Speaker,  did  I  understand  the  gentleman 
to  say  on  my  scientific  knowledge  of  dogs? 

Mr.  Young:  Mr.  Speaker,  I  will  change  the  question.  Do  I 
understand  that  whei'e  a  dog  commits  suicide  can  you  make  it 
support  the  child?     (Laughter.) 

Mr.  Blakslee:  Mr.  Speaker. 

The  Speaker:  The  gentleman  from  Carbon,  Mr.  Blakslee. 

Mr.  Blakslee :  ^Ir.  Speaker,  I  ask  unanimous  consent  to 
offer  the  following  amendment. 

The  Speaker:  The  gentleman  from  Armstrong  has  the  floor. 

Mr.  Cochrane:  Mr.  Speaker,  in  section  six  of  this  bill  it 
further  provides  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  constable  of  each  town- 
ship, ward,  precinct,  borough  and  city  in  this  Commonwealth  to 
capture  and  destroy  in  a  humane  manner  and  proi)erly  disix)se 
of  any  dog  not  wearing  the  tag  provided  for  in  this  act,  and 
upon  making  proof  under  oath  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  county 
commissioners  he  is  to  receive  the  sum  of  fifty  cents. 

Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  raise  the  constitutionality  objection  to 
this  bill,  That  this  is  a  scalp  law  and  not  a  dog  law.  As  set 
forth  in  section  six  of  this  bill  and  in  the  eighth  section  of  the 
bill,  it  also  provides  for  the  payment  of  claims  for  horses,  mules, 
cattle  and  swine  bitten  by  a  mad  dog.  Now,  it  says  nothing  at 
all  about  children.     I  presume  that  the  dog  in  this  bill  can  make 


32  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

an  attack  upon  the  children  and  not  be  required  to  pay  for  any 
bites  that  he  may  give,  but  he  shall  pay  for  bites  of  horses,  mules, 
cattle  and  swine.     (Cries  of  aye,  aye,  kiyi.) 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  think  there  is  some  merit  in  this  bill,  but  I 
believe  we  had  better  pass  it  up  to  the  next  session. 

Mr.  Blakslee :  Mr.  Speaker,  I  ask  unanimous  consent  to 
insert  the  following  amendment. 

The  amendment  was  read  by  the  clerk  as  follows : — 

Amend  section  one  by  adding  at  the  end  of  the  section 

the  following:  ''That  each  dog  shall  have  two  white  lights 

displayed  in  front  and  shall  have  a  red  light  in  the  rear  that 

the  license  may  be  illuminated  by  night." 
(Prolonged  laughter  and  applause.) 

The  Speaker:  The  amendment  is  not  germane.  (Laughter.) 

Mr.  Mandn :  Mr.  Speaker. 

The  Speaker:  The  gentleman  from  Pike,  Mr.  Marvin. 

Mr.  Mai'vin :  Mr.  Speaker,  I  was  about  to  offer  an  amend- 
ment to  the  amendment  of  the  gentleman  from  Carbon  specify- 
ing that  the  speed  should  be  regailated  at  ten  miles  an  hour  on 
public  highways. 

There  is  another  thing  that  I  don't  like  in  this  bill.  This 
bill  provides  that  the  fine  shall  go  to  the  wrong  place;  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  fine  should  not  be  over  the  value  of  the  dog- — fifty 
cents  for  each  dog.     (Laughter.) 

Mr.  Minehart:  Mr.  Speaker. 

The  Speaker:  The  gentleman  from  Franklin,  Mr.  Minehart. 

Mr.  Minehart :  Mr.  Speaker,  now  that  we  have  considered 
this  matter  very  seriously  and  in  a  very  just  manner,  I  move 
that  this  bill  be  continued  for  a  period  of  forty  days.  (Laughter.) 

Mr.  Kuser:  Mr.  Speaker. 

The  Speaker:  The  gentleman  from  Berks,  Mr.  Kuser. 

Mr.  Kuser:  Mr.  Speaker,  I  second  the  motion. 

Mr.  Habgood:  Mr.  Speaker. 

The  Speaker:  The  gentleman  from  McKean,  Ml-.  Habgood. 

Mr.  Habgood :  Mr.  Speaker,  I  move  to  amend  that  motion 
that  this  bill  be  postponed  until  dog  days. 

Mr.  Minehart:  Mr.  Speaker,  I  accept  that  amendment,  as  I 
think  it  is  a  good  one.  (Laughter.) 

Mr.  Garner:  Mr.  Speaker. 

The  Speaker:  The  gentleman  from  Schuylkill,  Mr.  Garner. 

Mr.  Gamer:  Mr.  Speaker,  I  move  to  amend  that  motion  to 
say  that  it  be  committed  to  the  Committee  on  Fish  and  Game. 
(Prolonged  laughter.) 

The  Speaker:  Is  that  motion  seconded?  It  does  not  seem 
to  be  seconded.! 


(1)  Legislative  Record,  Session  1907,  Vol.  II,  p.  2525. 


THE   LEGISLATURE   AT   PLAY.  33 

When  the  vote  was  taken,  there  were  60  "aye"  yelps 
and  58  ''no"  yelps,  but  as  the  necessary  104  votes  were 
not  secured,  the  bill  failed.  However,  a  very  similar  bill 
did  pass  the  same  session.- 

On  the  whole,  the  play  instinct  is  kept  pretty  well 
under  until  the  work  of  legislation  is  nearly  done.  Final- 
ly the  pressure  rises  too  high,  and  there  is  an  explosion. 

The  session  preceding  the  day  of  final  adjournment 
always  extends  throughout  the  night.  This  is  not  because 
the  members  especially  enjoy  working  all  night,  but  be- 
cause a  universal  procrastination  always  secures  them  a 
heavy  calendar  of  work  at  the  last  moment.  If  the  mere 
passage  of  bills  were  all  that  required  to  be  done  the  calen- 
dar might  be  cleared  by  rapid  roll  calls.  But  there  are 
always  reports  from  the  committees  appointed  to  harmon- 
ize the  differences  between  the  Senate  and  the  House, 
and  these  reports  must  be  printed ;  the  general  apJ3ropri- 
ation  bill  is  always  retained  till  the  closing  hours  in  order 
that  it  may  include  provision  for  all  the  expenses  author- 
ized by  the  latest  legislation;  and  there  are  a  host  of 
details  which  do  not  engage  the  attention  of  the  whole 
House  but  which  must  be  disposed  of  before  the  House 
can  adjourn.  Althougli  the  Senate  is  a  much  more  expe- 
ditious body,  it,  too,  must  watch  the  night  out  with  the 
House. 

(2)  Act  June  1st,  1907,  P.  L.  362.  This  act  was  repealed  by  Act 
July  11,  1917,  P.  L.  ,  which  codified  the  dog'  law.     This  latter 

aet  goes  into  effect  January  15th,  1918,  and  should  be  carefully 
studied  by  all  dog-  owners,  since  under  it  they  will  have  serious  re- 
sponsibilities. For  instance  See.  24  provides,  "The  owner  or  keeper 
of  evei"y  dog  shall  at  all  times,  between  sunset  and  sunrise  of  each 
day,  (sic)  keep  such  dog —  either  (a)  confined  within  an  enclosure 
from  which  it  cannot  escape,  or  (b)  firmly  secured  by  means  of  a 
collar  and  chain  or  other  device  so  that  it  cannot  stray  beyond  the 
premises  on  which  it  is  secured,  or  (c)  under  the  reasonable  control 
of  some  person,  or  when  engaged  in  lawful  hunting  accompanied  by 
an  owner  or  handler."  Failing  to  comply  with  the  pro\nsions  of 
this  act  is  a  misdemeanor  punishable  by  fine  or  imprisonment. 
3 


34  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Let  US  attend  in  imagination  a  typical  session  of  the 
House  on  the  day  before  final  adjournment.  It  opens 
much  as  usual.  The  members  seem  a  little  restless,  but 
any  disorder  is  sternly  repressed  by  the  Speaker,  and 
business  hurries  on.  Towards  the  end  of  the  day,  or 
perhaps  early  in  the  evening,  the  Speaker  has  about 
reached  the  limit  of  his  control.  Suddenly,  as  out  of 
nowhere,  a  paper  missile  flies,  only  to  fall  harmless  in  the 
aisle.  Bang!  Down  comes  the  gav.el,  and  the  Speaker 
exhorts  the  members  to  realize  that  serious  work  remains 
to  be  done,  only  to  gaze  helplessly  at  the  full  text  of  some 
weighty  code  (that  handiest  of  legislative  weapons)  sail 
with  fluttering  pages  from  some  rear  seat  to  be  arrested 
in  its  flight  by  the  nape  of  a  representative  neck.  Then 
for  a  while  chaos  is  unloosed.  The  temptation  of  the 
arsenal  of  useless  paper  is  too  great,  and  a  snowstorm 
burst's.  Sheets  crumpled  into  balls  satisfy  some,  but 
most  lethal  is  a  fat  bill  that  curves  and  twists  with  the 
agility  of  a  boomerang.  Bill  files  are  useful  as  entrench- 
ments behind  w^hich  the  more  timid  crouch  until  the  storm 
is  past.  Now  for  the  first  time  the  new  members  realize 
the  advantage  of  the  custom  which  relegates  them  to 
seats  in  the  rear.  After  a  while  the  storm  slackens,  owing 
to  the  exhaustion  of  the  ammunition  of  the  more  ag- 
gressive, and  only  an  occasional  discharge  betokens  that 
the  siege  is  still  maintained.  The  aisles  are  now  inches 
deep  in  loose  paper,  and  the  passerby  wades  to  the  ankle 
in  bills.  All  the  while  business  proceeds,  for  no  one  would 
think  of  stopping  .just  because  of  a  few  cut-ups.  Soon 
communication  with  the  base  seems  to  have  been  restored 
and  reserve  ammunition  brought  up,  for  large  bags  of 
confetti  are  generously  handed  around,  and  the  business 
of  the  House  continues  amid  a  gentle  fall  of  parti-colored 
snow. 

By  midnight  the  calendar  is  cleared,  but  the  work  is 
by  no  means  over.    Then  the  House  recesses  for  an  hour 


THE  LEGISLATURE  AT  PLAY.  35 

to  discuss  the  hospitality  of  the  Chief  Clerk,  in  the  sub- 
terranean caverns  of  the  Capitol  basement  with  its  squat 
columns  reminiscent  of  the  temple  scenes  in  Aida. 

Eeturning  refreshed,  the  members  reassemble  only 
to  find  that  there  is  little  business  before  them. 

Satan   finds   some   mischief   still 
For  idle  hands  to  do. 

The  Speaker  vacates  the  chair  and  surrenders  the 
gavel,  not  to  the  best  parliamentarian,  but  the  best  stunt 
director,  and  the  House  resolves  itself  into  a  Committee 
of  the  Whole  for  the  purpose  of  jollification,  resembling- 
nothing  so  much  as  a  small  town  vaudeville  theatre  on 
amateur  night.  Those  who  think  they  can  sing  are  un- 
leashed. Strange  what  hallucinations  some  people 
cherish !  If  one  who  is  suspected  of  thinking  he  can  sing 
seems  coy  when  invited  and  shows  a  disposition  to  sneak 
out  the  back  way,  it  is  simple  enough  to  have  him  grab- 
bed by  four  husky  members  from  the  coal  regions,  one 
to  each  limb,  and  carried  headforemost  to  the  rostrum. 

Already  the  singers  of  the  House  have  drifted  to- 
gether naturally  and  an  extemporized  glee  club  is  soon 
in  full  swing.  Some  of  the  voices  are  evidently  not 
what  once  they  were,  and  the  repertoire  is  limited  to  the 
oldest  and  most  favorite  of  the  old  favorites,  but  the 
singing  is  hearty,  being  done  for  pure  enjojTnent,  and  all 
the  members  join  lustily  in  the  chorus. 

DowTi  in  front  of  the  clerks'  desk  something  is  evi- 
dently go-ing  on,  and  the  members  crowd  around  to  see. 
A  great  banner,  or  chart  printed  on  cloth,  is  produced. 
At  first  sight  the  reading  matter  is  quite  unintelligible, 
but  when  near  enough  for  its  large  type  to  be  visible  it 
is  seen  to  be  a  song,  with  a  number  of  pictures  of  ob- 
jects and  the  notes  for  the  chorus,  all  in  correct  Penn- 
sylvania Dutch.  One  member  solemnly  intones  the  open- 
ing words,  **Ist  das  nicht  eine  Sohnitzelbank  ? "  and  from 


36  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

his  coadjutor  comes  the  antiphonal  response,  ' '  Ja  das  ist 
eine  Schnitzelbank, "  and  from  those  who  can  read  the 
words  comes  the  stirring  chorus,  ''Ei  du  schoene,  ei  du 
schoene,  ei  du  schoene  schnitzelbank."  Again,  the  inter- 
locutor intones,  this  time  with  reference  to  '*Ein  Kurz 
und  Lang,"  and  again  comes  the  asseverative  response. 
Then  they  couple  the  first  and  second  name, — house  that 
Jack  built  style, — and  the  augmented  crowd,  now  learn- 
ing the  chorus,  voices  it  with  deep  throated  enjoyment. 
So  the  chant  grows,  each  time  extended  by  the  addition 
of  a  name,  and  each  chorus  deepened  by  additional  voices 
until  the  last  thunderous  ''schnitzelbank"  reverberates 
through  the  whole  Capitol  and  dies  away  in  answering 
echoes  in  the  great  dome.^ 

Bang!  The  gavel  falls,  and  the  members  look  up  to 
note  that  the  stunt  speaker  has  given  way  to  the  real 
Speaker.  All  subside  into  their  seats  and  the  rollicking 
mob  becomes  instantly  the  grave  legislative  assembly. 
Some  conference  report  has  come  in  and  is  disposed  of, 
some  Senate  amendments  to  House  bills  are  concurred  in, 
and  again  the  House  finds  itself  with  nothing  to  do,  but 
unable  to  adjourn.  The  Speaker  as  before  leaves  the 
chair  to  a  presiding  officer  who  has  no  reputation  for  dig- 
nity to  maintain,  and  the  fun  starts  anew.  Paper  flies, 
confetti  floats.  Burlesque  speeches,  aptly  caricaturing 
the  more  striking  orators  of  the  House,  are  spouted.  In 
the  midst  of  all  this  a  grizzled  veteran  in  the  old  blue 
uniform  walks  in.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  House 
a  generation  ago,  and  now,  on  his  way  to  Gettysburg,  he 
has  tarried  to  fight  again  his  political  battles.  His  story 
quickly  reaches  the  Speaker,  and  the  old  soldier  is  called 
to  the  rostrum,  where  he  receives  an  ovation  from  the 
members,  and  delivers  some  plain  and  direct  words  of 

(3)  This  song  is  well  known  in  the  Pennsylvania  German  region, 
but  is  hard  to  obtain  elsewhere.  The  author  has  a  copy  published  by 
the  Broadway  Publishing  Co.,  287  Broadway,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


THE  LEGISLATURE  AT  PLAY,  37 

patriotism.  Then  someone  seizes  the  American  flag  that 
stands  behind  the  Speaker's  desk  and,  gently  forcing  the 
veteran  to  lead  the  procession  with  Old  Glory,  the  whole 
House  falls  in  and  marches  up  and  down  the  aisles  sing- 
ing the  Star  Spangled  Banner.  The  crowded  gallery 
and  side  aisles  join  in,  and  the  Speaker  conducts  with  his 
gavel.  This  over,  the  uproar  begins  anew.  From  some 
masked  battery  armed  with  one  squirt  gun,  a  thin  stream 
runs  its  parabolic  course  and  irrigates  the  tonsured  pate 
of  an  elderly  and  highly  respectable  Representative. 
Then  another  victim  feels,  but  fails  to  locate,  the  hidden 
artillerist.  Finally  one  espies  the  mischief  maker  and, 
quietly  slipping  out,  returns  with  a  42  centimeter  bucket 
charged  to  the  muzzle.  The  superior  weig^ht  of  metal  is 
decisive. 

Clearly  things  are  going  too  far,  and  it  is  time  for 
something  more  orderly.  The  distribution  of  appropri- 
ate presents  begins.  A  handsome  and  thoroughly  practi- 
cable baby  coach  is  presented  to  a  member  who  has  had 
recent  occasion  for  one.  To  a  party  whip  is  presented  a 
real  lash  to  make  his  work  effective.  A  member  conspicu- 
ous for  hunting  out  legislative  snakes  is  given  a  pop  "im 
to  arm  himself  in  his  quest.  To  a  white  haired  but  vig- 
orous minister  (the  House  is  never  without  one  or  more 
ministers  in  its  membership),  who. had  been  strong  in  his 
championship  of  bills  for  the  prevention  of  vice,  is  given 
a  red  lantern  and  a  piece  or  two  of  filmy  apparel.  A  diffi- 
cult task  the  old  preacher  faces  as  he  rises  to  reply  to 
the  speech  of  presentation  amid  the  expectant  silence  of 
the  members.  For  a  few  moments  he  speaks  lightly,  not 
to  break  too  suddenly  the  levity  of  the  occasion,  but  grad- 
ually the  sentiments  he  utters  begin  to  rise,  till,  sustained 
by  the  full  rush  of  his  oratory,  they  soar  aloft.  The 
breathless  listeners  hear  a  sermon,  powerful,  brief,  such 
as  they  have  seldom  heard  before. 

In  chastened  mood  the  House  is  ready  again  for  seri- 


38  STATE   GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

ous  business.  As  this  is  transacted  it  grows  very  late. 
Members  drift  out.  Some  drop  their  heads  on  the  desk 
before  them  and  sleep,  oblivious  of  the  brilliant  lights 
and  constant  sound.  The  great  casement  v^^indows  of  the 
House,  flung  wide  to  welcome  the  summer  air,  are  black 
with  the  satin  texture  of  the  night.  But  look  again.  Into 
the  blackness  has  crept  a  trace  of  deepest  blue,  blue  too 
deep  to  have  a  name.  Gradually,  imperceptibly,  but  inex- 
orably the  blue  lig'htens,  till  at  the  final  fall  of  the  gavel, 
we  look  out  at  the  azure  heavens  and  the  new  day  is  at 
hand.  No  thought  of  bed  now.  A  brisk  walk  over  the 
Susquehanna  on  the  long  bridge,  a  cold  bath  and  a  hearty 
breakfast  renew  the  bodily  forces  for  the  closing  scenes. 

What  a  change !  A  few  hours  ago  the  aisles  were  deep 
in  strevni  papers,  the  desks  covered  with  bill  files  in  all 
stages  of  disintegration,  giving  a  white,  almost  snow- 
covered  look  to  the  room.  Now  all  is  serene,  clear,  and 
of  that  deep  red  color  familiar  Avhen  the  House  first  met, 
but  forgotten  as  the  bill  files  swelled,  and  somehow  the 
verse  about  the  man  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind  per- 
sistently recurs. 

A  few  belated  pieces  of  business  are  to  be  attended  to, 
but  the  real  purpose  of  this  session  is  to  say  farewell. 
Notwithstanding  the  clash  of  party  and  personality  that 
has  taken  place  throughout  the  session,  the  closing  day 
brings  with  it  the  pang  of  parting.  There  is  in  the  air 
that  shade  of  melancholy  that  pervades  a  college  campus 
on  commencement  day,  and  also  something  of  the  same 
gala  occasion.  By  long  custom  the  sentiments  of  the 
House  are  crystallized  into  handsome  presents  for  the 
chief  officers.  These  are  displayed  before  the  rostrum, 
and  the  rich  silver,  cut  glass  and  oriental  rugs  suggest 
the  ground  floor  of  a  great  department  store.  The 
Speaker,  all  the  clerks  and  even  the  page  boys  are  remem- 
bered, and  often  the  chairmen  of  the  more  important  com- 
mittees.   With  each  gift,  of  course,  goes  a  presentation 


THE  LEGISLATURE  AT  PLAY.  39 

speech.  How  can  it  all  be  done  before  twelve  o  'clock,  that 
inexorable  hour  set  for  final  adjournment?  Ask  the  clock. 
That  staid  timepiece  that  so  calmly  has  measured  off  the 
hours  throughout  the  session  now  seems  possessed.  Its 
hands,  like  Sisyphus,  toil  upward,  only  to  slip  back. 
Again  and  again  they  climb,  till,  when  all  the  talk  is  over, 
they  attain  the  goal  and  the  Speaker  announces,  "The 
House  stands  adjourned  sine  die." 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  LEGISLATURE  SPENDING   MONEY. 

THE  following  incident,  coming  under  tlie  observa- 
tion of  the  author,  may  serve  as  an  introduction 
to  a  description  of  the  methods  of  the  Legislature 
in  making  appropriations: 

The  Senate  was  in  session,  though  almost  the  only 
evidence  of  that  fact  was  the  group  of  officials  in  their 
places,  for  the  floor  was  bare  of  senators,  save  two,  and 
these  were  deeply  immersed  in  their  newspapers.  A  low 
droning  pervaded  the  atmosphere,  which,  when  attended 
to,  proved  to  be  the  voice  of  the  reading  clerk  continu- 
ously calling  the  roll.  At  regular  intervals  the  presid- 
ing officer  would  anounce  that  a  bill  had  passed  finally. 
At  the  rear  of  the  room  stood  a  group  of  spectators, 
members  of  the  House,  newspaper  men  and  visitors. 
Whether  the  farce  of  the  procedure  struck  them  simul- 
taneously, or  whether  some  joke  was  sprung,  it  is  hard 
to  say,  but  suddenly  a  general  laugh  broke  forth.  Down 
came  the  gavel  of  the  presiding  officer,  and  he  called 
them  to  order  with  the  remark,  "The  gentlemen  in  the 
rear  of  the  room  must  not  make  so  much  noise,  the  Sena- 
tors cannot  hear  their  names  being  called."  This  was 
the  Senate  of  Pennsylvania  passing  appropriation  bills. 

In  the  House  a  scene  of  similar  import  might  be  fre- 
quently witnessed.  Decorously  enough  the  first  bill  or 
two  passes.  Then  the  clerk,  who  has  the  names  per- 
fectly by  rote,  spins  them  off  till  each  member  must  wing 
his  name  on  the  fly.  The  pace  grows  too  furious  for  any 
response,  and  the  ayes  come  snapping  from  all  parts  of 
the  room  without  much  connection  with  the  names  called. 
Soon  the  roll  miraculously  shortens.  Members  have 
40 


THE  LEGISLATURE  SPENDING   MONEY.  41 

ceased  to  attempt  to  hear  or  answer  to  their  names,  but 
the  more  active  of  them  shout  ' '  aye ' '  just  to  keep  things 
moving.  Occasionally  a  member  musically  inclined  will 
sustain  a  long  drawn  aye  and  others  joining  in  third,  fifth 
and  octave  produce  a  chord  as  from  a  groat  organ.  As 
the  weary  grind  proceeds,  less  and  less  formality  is  ob- 
served. At  length,  no  more  than  this, — the  bill  is  an- 
nounced, the  clerk  starts  the  roll,  and  immediately  a 
choms  of  ayes  brings  the  procedure  to  a  close.  In  each 
case,  when  the  Speaker  announces  the  vote,  it  always 
appears  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  members,  and 
frequently  almost  the  total  number,  have  voted. 

At  the  first  impulse  we  are  tempted  to  denounce  the 
whole  proceeding  as  a  colossal  fraud,  but  it  is  not  fraud, 
it  is  a  species  of  unanimous  consent.  Both  the  Senate 
and  the  House  in  the  cases  mentioned  are  saving  them- 
selves the  intolerable  iteration  resulting  from  a  literal  ob- 
servance of  the  constitutional  routine  in  every  case.  If 
a  member  should  rise  and  announce  that  he  intends  to 
oppose  a  bill,  the  House  or  Senate  would  relapse  into  its 
accustomed  order  and  the  roll  call  would  proceed  with 
accuracy. 

Nevertheless  this  unanimity  itself  is  a  matter  of  con- 
siderable interest  to  the  critical  observer.  Since  in  all 
other  walks  of  life  the  distribution  of  large  sums  of 
money,  especially  among  those  who  have  not  worked  for 
it,  is  the  cause  of  so  many  bickerings  and  heartburnings, 
so  much  strife  and  litigation,  how  can  it  be  that  the  Legis- 
lature of  Pennsylvania  can  distribute  $10,000,000  in  a 
day  without  enough  difference  of  opinion  to  make  it 
necessary  to  call  the  roll? 

To  explain  this,  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  de- 
scribe an  institution  peculiar  to  a  small  group  of  States 
of  which  Pennsylvania  is  the  most  conspicuous,  viz.. 
State  appropriation  to  privately  managed  charity.'  The 
(1)   "Twenty-two    states    make    no    appropriation    whatever    to 


42  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

magnitude  of  the  question  can  be  comprehended  when 
it  is  learned  that  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  of  1917 
appropriated  $6,670,050  (reduced  by  the  Governor  to 
$6,266,300)  to  charitable  institutions,  the  management  of 
which  is  not  in  its  own  hands.  The  private  charitable  in- 
stitutions which  were  the  recipients  of  this  bounty  num- 
bered 282.-  That  there  should  be  such  a  horde  of  appli- 
cants for  State  bounty,  very  few  of  whom  really  could 
hope  that  all  their  wants  would  be  satisfied,  would  seem 
to  insure  trouble  in  distributing  the  funds  available 
rather  than  the  strange  unanimity  of  which  we  have  al- 
ready spoken.  Therefore  it  is  necessary  that  we  should 
give  particular  attention  to  the  system  of  State  appro- 
priation to  private  charities  and  trace  out  its  results 
widely  ramifying  through  the  whole  structure  of  legis- 
lation. 

The  workings  of  this  system  will  be  more  vividly  ap- 
prehended if  we  accompany  a  newly  elected  member 
through  the  experiences  which  give  him  his  first  insight 
into  it.  Shortly  after  his  election  he  will  be  waited 
upon  by  a  delegation  from  the  Board  of  the  Hospital 
or  Home  in  his  district,  who  will  request  him  to  introduce 
a  bill  making  them  their  usual  appropriation.  Know- 
ing the  worthiness  of  the  institution  and  the  good  which 
it  is  doing  in  the  community,  the  newly  elected  member 
is  pleased  to  acquiesce,  and  gladly  promises  to  do  what 
in  him  lies  to  aid  the  passage  of  the  appropriation.  Con- 
sequently he  promptly  introduces  the  bill  and  finds  him- 
self in  plenty  of  company,  for  at  least  350  other  bills  of 
the  same  general    nature  have    been    introduced.      The 

privately  managed  charities,  fifteen  make  such  appropriation  sparingly 
and  nine  place  no  apparent  restriction  on  their  grants."  State  Money 
and  Privately  Managed  Charities — A  chapter  from  Experience,  by 
Alexander  Fleisher,  The  Survey,  October  31,  1914. 

(2)  The  figures  given  in  this  chapter  have  been  compiled  by  the 
Public  Charities  Association  of  Pennsylvania,  Empire  Bldg.,  Philadel- 
phia. 


THE  LEGISLATURE  SPENDING   MONEY. 


43 


number  is  significant,  being  larger  than  the  total  num- 
ber of  Senators  and  Representatives,  so  that  there  is  on 
the  average  more  than  one  institution  depending  on  each 
member  of  the  House  or  Senate.  The  various  appro- 
priation bills  are  referred  to  the  appropriation  commit- 
tee and  when  safely  gathered  there  the  system  begins  its 
work. 

Some  sharp  issue  in  the  House  arises.  The  hench- 
men vote  as  they  are  told,  but  the  balance  of  power  does 
not  lie  with  them.  The  votes  of  the  men  of  personal  in- 
tegrity and  standing  in  their  communities,  are  needed  to 
make  up  the  majority.  No  doubt  they  will  vote  as  they 
think  right,  but  to  know  what  is  right  is  the  difficulty. 
Someone  has  whispered  in  their  ear  the  fatal  spell,  ''You 
must  go  along  if  you  want  to  get  anything,"  and  now 
they  begin  to  understand  what  it  means.  The  appropri- 
ation bill  for  which  they  are  responsible,  is  not  yet  out 
of  committee.  The  men  who  are  the  sponsors  for  the  bill 
creating  the  issue  in  question  are  powerful  members  of 
the  appropriation  committee,  and  it  would  be  dangerous 
to  antagonize  them.  The  newcomer  may  be  smart  enough 
to  take  the  hint,  but  if  not,  he  will  soon  be  told  coldly 
and  frankly  that  it  is  useless  for  him  to  expect  that  ap- 
propriations will  be  made  for  institutions  in  his  district 
unless  he  goes  along  with  the  powers  which  are  able  to 
give  or  withhold.  And  so  arises  a  sharp  conflict  in  his 
soul.  He  thinks  of  the  disaster  that  would  attend  the 
withholding  of  tlie  needed  money,  of  the  sufferers  in  the 
hospital  at  home  who  would  have  nowhere  to  go  should 
charit}^  fail,  and  yet  conscience  forbids  to  vote  for  the 
wrong.  Oh,  the  diabolical  refinement  of  the  scheme 
which  sets  the  tenderest  sympathies  at  war  with  con- 
science! At  first  the  sympathies  are  apt  to  pre- 
vail, for  there  are  salves  for  the  conscience. 
''When  my  appropriation  has  been  passed,  then 
I  can  vote  more  independently."    Poor  deluded  mortal, 


44  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

you  do  not  yet  know  the  rules  of  the  House,  ' '  No  bill  ap- 
propriating money  for  charitable  or  benevolent  purposes 
will  be  considered  further  than  second  reading  until  after 
the  general  appropriation  bill  shall  have  been  reported 
from  committee."  Go  study  the  history  of  former  ses- 
sions and  learn  that  months  after  the  opening  day  the 
general  appropriation  bill  is  still  in  committee.  When 
once  solicitude  for  your  appropriation  has  mastered  your 
conduct,  you  must  sit  the  session  through  like  Damocles, 
the  sword  of  fear  ever  swinging  over  your  head. 

In  his  bewilderment  the  new  member  turns  for  advice 
to  the  men  in  his  community  to  whom  he  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  look  up  as  leaders  in  good  work, — leaders  in 
good  work,  and  consequently  directors  of  the  institution 
which  needs  the  money.  The  dilemma  puzzles  them,  too, 
but  the  difficulty  about  voting  right  does  not  seem  so 
acute.  They  are  not  members  of  the  Legislature  and 
have  not  taken  oath  of  office,  while  their  close  knowledge 
of  the  needs  of  their  institution  makes  that  branch  of  the 
question  loom  very  large.  They  would  not  advise  the 
member  to  vote  against  his  conscience,  certainly  not,  but 
we  should  not  be  surprised  to  hear  them  enlarge  on  the 
propriety  of  not  being  quixotic  or  idealistic,  to  say  that 
this  is  a  practical  world,  that  a  man  must  give  and  take, 
etc.,  and  to  employ  all  those  various  methods  which  a 
man  uses  to  make  himself  more  comfortable  when  doing 
what  he  knows  he  ought  not  to  do. 

Seldom  is  the  process  as  explicit  as  portrayed  above, 
but  it  is  always  as  real.  Whenever  there  ought  to  be  an 
outcry  all  over  the  State  against  iniquity  in  high  places, 
it  is  frequently  the  leaders  in  benevolence  who  are  heard 
to  explain  that  they  cannot  have  anything  to  do  with 
politics  because  the  institutions  of  which  they  are  direc- 
tors simply  could  not  exist  without  the  State  appropria- 
tion. We  have  shuddered  to  read  how  in  some  old  Euro- 
pean War  soldiers  captured  a  citadel  by  covering  their 


THE  LEGISLATURE  SPENDING   MONEY.  45 

advance  with  the  women  and  children  of  the  defenders. 
Such  vilhiiny  can  hardly  be  believed,  yet  at  this  day  we 
live  in  a  State  where  regularly  the  sick  and  the  destitute, 
the  insane  and  the  orphan  are  marched  in  the  van  of  the 
army  that  would  control  the  State.-' 

(3)  A  striking  illustration  of  the  way  charitable  appropriations 
are  manipulated  lor  political  purposes  is  the  fate  in  the  session  of 
1913  of  the  institutions  serving-  especially  the  colored  people.  An 
appropriation  of  $75,000.  was  made  for  the  celebration  of  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  It  was  charged  at 
the  time  the  appropriation  was  made,  and  subsequent  events  tended  to 
prove  that  the  chief  purpose  of  this  appropriation  was  to  provide  a 
fund  to  enhance  the  inii)()rtaiK"e  of  certain  negro  Republican  Organiza- 
tion politicians  who  had  its  immediate  disbursement  in  eliarge.  The 
money  was  obtained  by  depriving  legitimate  negTO  charities  ot  what 
they  had  a  right  to  expect.  The  evidence  of  this  can  be  clearly  pre- 
sented. 

In  1911  there  was  appropriated  to  negro  charities  the  sum  of 
$116,400.  In  1913,  the  year  in  which  $75,000.  was  given  to  the  Cele- 
bration, there  was  appropriated  but  $75,900.,  a  loss  of  $40,500.  to 
the  charities  concerned.     Detailed  schedule  is  appended. 

APPROPRIATIONS    TO   COLORED   CHARITIES,    I9II. 

Coleman  Home  for  colored  Boys    $     2,000.00 

Agricultural    and    Mechanical    School    for   colored    boys 

and  girls  at  Jumonville   10,000.00 

Ag^d   colored  women's   home,   Williamsport    2,000.00 

Industrial  Home  for  colored  working  girls 2,000.00 

Avery  College   10,000.00 

Downingtown  Industrial  and  Agricultural  School 20,000.00 

Colored  Women's  Relief  Association  of  Western  Penn- 
sylvania   1,000.00 

Frederick  Douglas  Memorial  Hospital   30,000.00 

Home  for  Aged  and  Infirm  Colored  Women,  Pittsburgli.  4,000.00 

Institution  for  Colored  Youths,  Cheney  10,000.00 

Colored  Day  Nurser}',  Hamsburg 400.00 

Berean  College  15,000.00 

Mercy  Hospital,  Philadelphia    10,000.00 

$116,400.00 

APPROPRIATIONS    TO   COLORED    CHARITIES,    I913. 

( '  Ionian  Home  for  colored  Boys    $     2,000.00 

Agricultural    and    Mechanical   School    for   coloix^d    Boys 

and   Girls  at   Jumonville    


46  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Another  consideration  which  disturbs  the  new  mem- 
ber is  the  fact  that  his  value  as  a  Representative  is  large- 
ly estimated  by  the  people  of  his  district  on  the  basis 
of  the  amount  of  State  money  he  is  able  to  bring  home 
with  him.  This  is  partly  justified  on  the  theory  that  the 
strongest  lions  will  take  the  biggest  piece  of  the  prey, 
and  that  a  man  can  have  little  influence  in  other  matters 
who  is  not  able  to  get  a  good  appropriation  for  his  own 
home  hospital.  The  use  of  such  a  basis  of  estimate  is 
also  due  in  a  large  degree  to  the  fact  that  money  is  very 
concrete  and  definite,  while  activity  in  general  legisla- 
tion is  indefinite  and  its  value  always  a  matter  of  opin- 
ion. Cash  is  a  thing  to  be  seen  by  everyone  and  its  de- 
sirability is  universally  recognized,  but  the  best  work  of 
the  legislator  is  frequently  done  in  the  library  and  is 
seldom  recognized  by  the  public. 

When  the  appropriation  bills  have  rested  in  committee 
throughout  the  session,  and  their  usefulness  as  a  club  to 
control  the  votes  of  the  members  has  been  nearly  ex- 
Aged   colored   Women 's  Home,  Williamsport    3,000.00 

Industrial  Home  for  colored  Working  Girls   2,000.00 

Avery  College 

Downingtown  Industrial  and  Agricultural  School 20,000.00 

Colored  Women's  Relief  Association  of  Western  Penn- 
sylvania      1,000.00 

Frederick  Douglas  Memorial   Hpspital    20,000.00 

Home  for  Aged  and  Infirm  Colored  women,  Pittsburgh.  4,500.00 

Institution  for  Colored  Youth,  Cheney    10,000.00 

Colored  Day  Nursery,  Harrisburg    400.00 

Berean  College  

Home  for  Colored  Children,  Allegheny 3,000.00 

Mercy  Hospital,   Philadelphia    10,000.03 

$75,900.00 

A  comparison  of  the  above  will  demonstrate  that  the  chief  contri- 
butors to  the  "cinch"  of  the  Seventh  Ward  colored  politicans  were 
the  school  at  Jumonville,  Avery  College,  Frederick  Douglas  Hospital 
and  Berean  College.  The  rest  was  contributed  by  white  charities 
which  the  Governor  was  compelled  to  cut  in  order  to  sign  the  "Cel- 
ebration" bill. 


THE  LEGISLATURE  SPENDING   MONEY.  47 

hausted,  they  come  out  all  together,  that  is  to  say,  those 
of  them  that  have  survived  the  scrutiny  of  the  commit- 
tee, and  take  their  place  upon  the  calendar  in  a  solid 
block.  Each  member  has  a  stake  in  that  calendar.  Let 
him  but  tread  upon  the  toes  of  some  other  member  and 
oppose  the  passage  of  a  bill  in  which  that  member  is  in- 
terested, and  the  retort  is  obvious.  The  other  member 
and  as  many  friends  as  he  can  control  simply  vote  against 
the  appropriation  bill  of  the  objecting  member.  As  a 
result  there  is  little  opposition  to  the  appropriation  bills 
on  the  floor  of  the  House.  Another  reason  for  the  unan- 
imity mentioned  is  that  it  is  so  much  easier  to  shift  all 
the  responsibility  on  the  appropriation  committee  and 
so  much  more  safe,  that  the  practice  has  become  well  nigh 
universal,  and  when  once  it  has  been  determined  to  fol- 
low implicitly  the  recommendation  of  the  committee  on 
appropriations,  the  passage  of  each  of  the  hundreds  of 
appropriation  bills  with  all  the  formality  necessary  in 
the  passage  of  contested  legislation,  becomes  a  nuisance 
and  soon  degenerates  into  the  legislative  farce  which  has 
been  described. 

The  use  of  the  appropriation  to  privately  managed 
charities  as  a  weapon  for  the  destruction  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Legislature  is  such  a  blazing  evil  that  in 
the  face  of  it  some  difficulty  must  be  experienced  in  main- 
taining a  sufficiently  judicial  point  of  view  to  make  a  fair 
examination  of  its  other  features.  Nevertheless,  it  has 
other  features  which  merit  careful  examination.  Not 
only  does  the  charitable  appropriation  shackle  the  Legis- 
lature and  muzzle  the  best  citizenship  of  the  State,  but  it 
reacts  against  the  best  interests  of  the  charities  them- 
selves. There  has  been  a  steady  progress  of  the  educa- 
tion of  the  benevolent  citizens  of  the  State  to  consider 
the  State  as  the  normal  source  of  supply  for  established 
charities,  and  hence  private  gifts  are  eitlier  being  less- 
ened in  amount  or  directed  into  other  channels  and  the 


48  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA, 

managers  are  being  constantly  forced  into  the  dilemma 
of  either  increasing  their  dependence  upon  the  State  or 
closing  their  institutions.  Yet  so  little  is  it  considered 
a  mark  of  honor  and  approval  to  receive  assistance  from 
the  State  that  many  of  our  finest  charitable  institutions 
resolutely  refuse  any  appropriation  to  be  made  to  them, 
although  to  receive  the  money  they  would  have  little  to 
do  but  to  ask.^ 

On  account  of  the  striking  collateral  evils  of  the  ap- 
propriation of  State  money  to  privately  managed  chari- 
ties, the  fact  is  apt  to  be  overlooked  that  the  State  does 
this  appropriation  very  badly.  That  it  should  be  done 
badly  is  inherent  in  the  way  in  which  it  is  done.  The 
fair  distribution  of  more  than  $6,000,000  among  nearly 
300  institutions,  none  of  which  can  get  all  that  it  feels 
entitled  to,  is  not  a  task  to  be  undertaken  lightly,  and  yet 
the  appropriation  committee  does  it  largely  on  the  basis 
of  their  own  knowledge  gained  by  the  journeys  of  sub- 
committees throughout  the  State  during  the  session  of 
the  Legislature.  Anyone  who  has  ever  had  to  do  with 
the  management  of  a  hospital  will  realize  that  its  needs 
and  opportunities  for  service  are  not  to  be  comprehended 
by  a  single  walk  through  its  wards  and  a  survey  of  its 
statistics.  No  doubt  the  appropriation  committee  does 
gather  some  information  from  these  journeys.  Never- 
theless, these  visits  of  inspection  by  the  appropriation 


(4)  The  Pennsylvania  Society  to  Protect  Children  from  Cruelty, 
one  of  the  State's  standard  privately  managed  charities,  in  1914  form- 
ally voted  not  to  apply  for  State  aid.  In  their  letter  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  State  Board  of  Charities,  announcing  this  decision,  appears 
the  following  paragraph : 

"The  whole  system  seems  to  us  wasteful,  inefficient  and 

corrupting,  and  we  have,  therefore,  decided  not  to  participate 

in  it  any  long'er. ' ' 

The  whole  letter,  together  with  interviews  with  a  number  of 
people  whose  positions  enable  them  to  understand  the  situation,  ap- 
pears in  the  Philadelphia  North  American  of  Sunday,  December 
6th,  1914. 


THE   LEGISLATURE   SPENDING    MONEY.  49 

committee  are  a  real  misfortune  to  the  State.  If  they 
were  but  willing  to  admit  that  the  task  of  judging  the 
merits  of  all  the  charities  of  the  State  during  a  few  brief 
months,  wliich  months  were  also  to  be  devoted  to  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  total  revenue  of  the  State,  was  quite 
beyond  the  powers  of  any  set  of  mortals,  even  of  an 
appropriation  committee,  they  might  then  be  willing  to 
take  their  information  from  an  expert  body  always  at 
work  upon  the  problem.  The  State  is  not  without  ma- 
chinery for  the  gathering  of  detailed  information  about 
all  its  charitable  institutions,  State  as  well  as  privately 
managed.  The  State  Board  of  Charities  was  organized 
for  this  very  purpose.  The  State  Board  of  Charities  is 
composed  of  public  spirited  citizens,  giving  wdiat  time 
they  can  spare  from  their  own  affairs,  and  a  salaried  sec- 
retary and  staft'  who  devote  their  whole  time  to  its  busi- 
ness. All  institutions  desirous  of  receiving  aid  from  the 
State  are  required  to  present  their  case  first  to  the  State 
Board  of  Charities."'  Based  on  the  facts  contained  in 
these  applications,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  board  gained 
by  their  own  inspection,  a  detailed  recommendation  is 
made  by  the  board  to  the  Legislature.  To  this  recom- 
mendation the  appropriation  committee  pays  exactly  as 
much  attention  as  to  it  seems  best,  generally  little  enough. 
It  is  probable  that  they  give  more  attention  to  this 
report  than  appears  on  tlie  surface,  since  without  it  they 
would  be  totally  at  sea,  but  the  many  dilTerences  between 
the  report  of  the  appropriation  committee  and  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  State  Board  of  Charities  make  it  clear 
that  the  appropriation  committee  seems  to  consider  it 
necessary,  in  order  to  preserve  its  ow^n  dignity,  to  dif- 
fer from  the  State  Board  of  Charities. 

Owing  to  the  method  of  charitable  appropriation 
which  has  grown  up,  Pennsylvania  is  becoming  more  in- 
volved year  after  year.     At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of 

(5)   Act  April  24th.  1869,  P.  L.  90,  Sec.  9. 
4 


50  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  Constitution,  the  appropriation  of  money  to  privately 
managed  institutions,  though  not  unknown,  had  not 
reached  striking  proportions.  The  Constitution  makers 
had  the  matter  in  mind,  but  apparently  considered  that 
the  requirement  of  a  two-thirds  vote  would  be  a  practical 
prohibition  of  such  appropriations.*'  They  could  not  have 
foreseen  the  ''quick  way"  of  passing  appropriation  bills, 
by  means  of  which  a  two-thirds  vote  or  even  a  unanimous 
vote  is  as  easy  to  achieve  as  any  other.  When  once  the 
principle  was  established  that  the  State  was  willing  to 
assist  in  the  support  of  privately  managed  charities, 
there  was  certain  to  be  a  steadily  increasing  demand. 
The  opportunities  for  extending  charity  are  boundless, 
and  the  needs  of  every  charitable  institution  are  pressing 
and  continuous.  Once  let  the  State  begin  appropriating 
to  a  privately  managed  institution  and  the  amount  prac- 
tically becomes  a  fixed  annual  liability  of  the  State,  for 
the  managers  of  the  institution,  having  been  led  to  expect 
regular  State  aid,  shape  their  plans  accordingly,  and  if 
the  Legislature  should  suddenly  cease  to  give,  the  great- 
est hardships  to  the  unfortunates  would  ensue.  New 
charities,  however,  are  constantly  being  organized,  and 
applying  to  the  State  for  aid.  As  these  new  charities 
have  exactly  the  same  reason  for  receiving  money  as 
have  the  older  charities,  namely,  that  they  need  it,  it  is 
difficult  to  discriminate  against  them,  and  the  ordinary 
result  is  that  the  new  charities  take  their  place  alongside 
of  the  old,  and  the  total  amount  of  the  State  appropria- 
tion is  swelled. 

The  evils  of  the  system  which  we  have  just  described 
are  sufficient  to  justify  considerable  pessimism,  were  it 
not  for  the  fact  that  the  remedy  is  easy  to  discover  and 
to  apply.  Consider  the  parallel  case  of  the  appropria- 
tion for  the  public  schools.     This  is  nearly  three  times 

(6)   Art.  Ill,  Sec.  17. 


THE  LEGISLATURE  SPENDING   MONEY.  51 

as  large  as  the  appropriation  for  private  charities.'^  Each 
school  district  would  like  to  have  all  the  money  it  could 
possibly  get  from  the  State,  and  yet  no  one  ever  hears  of 
the  various  school  districts  clamoring  to  the  Legisla- 
ture for  a  special  appropriation  bill,  or  of  members  com- 
promising their  independence  in  order  to  obtain  a  large 
school  appropriation.  The  reason  is  apparent.  The  ap- 
propriation is  made  in  one  lump  sum  and  distributed  on 
a  basis  of  apportionment  fixed  by  law.^ 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  State's  bounty  to  its 
charitable  institutions  should  not  be  apportioned  in  a 
similar  way.  The  basic  reasons  for  the  failure  of  the 
Legislature  in  the  matter  of  charitable  appropriations 
is  the  fact  that  it  is  trying  to  do  work  w^hich  is  not  legis- 
lative in  nature,  but  administrative.  To  regulate  the 
channels  of  expenditure  is,  of  course,  a  proper  function 
of  the  Legislature,  but  not  minutely  to  apportion  funds 
among  a  great  number  of  institutions  of  the  same  class. 
The  Legislature  should  determine  nothing  more  than  the 
amount  of  money  it  intends  to  apply  in  meeting  its  chari- 
table obligations  and  the  classes  of  beneficiaries  who  are 
to  receive  its  bounty.  Then  it  should  indicate  the  basis 
upon  which  the  money  is  to  be  distributed  and  should 
erect  sufficient  administrative  machinery  to  supervise 
the  work  in  which  the  State  invests  so  heavily  and  to 
apportion  the  money  on  the  basis  laid  down.  The  fixing 
of  the  basis  for  the  proper  distribution  of  the  money  will 
not  be  without  difficulty.  To  frame  ah  act  defining-  the 
grounds  upon  which  a  charity  may  apply  as  a  matter  of 

(7)  At  the  session  of  1917,  $18,000,000  was  appropriated  to  the 
public  schools,  besides  other  large  amounls  for  other  educational 
purposes. 

(8)  All  appropriation  made  for  the  maintenance  and  support  of 
the  public  school  system  after  the  approval  of  this  act  shall  be 
apportioned  and  distributed  by  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion as  herein  provided.  School  Code,  Sec.  2302.  Act  May  18  1911, 
P.  L.,  p.  309. 


52  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

right  to  the  State  for  aid,  so  as  to  do  complete  justice 
everywhere,  will  not  be  easy  but  should  not  be  beyond 
the  powers  of  anyone  who  has  given  the  subject  careful 
and  conscientious  consideration.  The  general  lines  upon 
which  such  a  distribution  would  proceed  are  not  difficult 
to  ascertain.  For  instance,  in  the  case  of  hospitals,  the 
free  patient  day  could  be  considered  a  unit  and  a  fixed 
amount  allowed  for  each  patient  maintained  free  for  one 
day.  If  the  payment  were  fixed  at  the  proper  figure, 
there  would  be  no  motive  for  unduly  receiving  patients 
free,  for  their  presence  would  not  result  in  profit.  In 
the  case  of  homes  and  asylums,  the  matter  would  be 
simpler  yet.  The  mere  number  of  inmates,  with  grad- 
ations for  the  ages  of  the  different  classes,  could  be  made 
the  basis  of  distribution. 

It  might  be  objected  that  by  such  a  change  the  seat  of 
trouble  would  simply  be  shifted  from  the  Legislature, 
where  the  final  voting,  at  least,  is  public,  to  the  secret 
processes  of  an  administrative  bureau,  and  that  the  enor- 
mous powers  of  favoritism  and  discrimination  would  en- 
able the  apportioning  officer  to  become  a  great  political 
power,  and  that  the  last  state  of  the  matter  would  be 
worse  than  the  first.  But  the  difference  between  the  two 
methods  of  distribution  is  absolute.  The  Legislature  has 
an  irresponsible  and  uncontrolled  discretion  to  give  or 
not  to  give  as  seems  to  it  best  for  any  kind  of  reason, 
personal  or  political,  or  for  no  reason.  The  administra- 
tive officer  would  iiot  have  such  discretion.  He  is  respon- 
sible for  all  his  acts,  and  if  he  should  attempt  to  deprive 
any  institution  of  money  which  had  a  right  to  it,  the 
courts  would  promptly  grant  relief.  The  experience  of 
the  State  in  the  distribution  of  the  school  fund  ought 
to  be  conclusive  answer  to  any  such  suggestion.  But, 
even  suppose  there  should  be  favoritism  in  the  appor- 
tionment of  the  money  and  that  some  institutions  should 
get  more  than  their  share  and  some  less,  in  what  way 


THE  LEGISLATURE  SPENDING   MONEY.  53 

would  matters  be  worse  than  at  present?  The  managers 
of  the  charitable  institutions  might  be  subject  to  political 
pressure,  but  so  they  are  now.  Political  ends  might  be 
achieved  by  means  of  the  appropriations,  but  so  they  are 
now.  At  the  worst  the  evil  would  localize  itself  in  its 
own  proper  sphere,  and  the  Legislature  would  be  re- 
lieved of  the  poison  which  is  now  slowly  invading  the 
whole  body  politic. 

Notwithstanding  the  amount  of  space  which  we  have 
devoted  to  the  matter  of  charitable  appropriations,  it 
must  not  be  supposed  that  this  is  the  only  subject  which 
occupies  the  attention  of  the  appropriation  committee. 
That  hard  pressed  body  must  pass  upon  the  advisability 
of  the  expenditure  of  nearly  every  dollar  appropriated 
by  the  State.  In  the  session  of  1913  this  amounted  to 
$87,164,430.  Of  course,  it  must  conduct  its  work  always 
in  view  of  the  total  amount  of  the  State's  revenue.  In 
other  words,  it  is  the  sole  authority  for  the  making  of  a 
budget.  Budget  making  is  the  weakest  part  of  the  Amer- 
ican system  of  government.  Where,  as  in  a  responsible 
cabinet  system  of  government,  the  administrative  officers 
have  place  upon  the  floor  of  the  legislative  body,  there 
is  no  difficulty  in  their  presenting  to  such  bodies  their 
complete  plans,  both  for  the  raising  of  revenue  and  the 
expenditure  of  the  public  fund.  These  two  things,  bal- 
anced against  each  other,  produce  what  is  technically 
knowii  as  a  ])udget.  In  the  American  system  of  com- 
plete separation  between  the  executive  and  legislative 
branches  of  the  government,  and  largely  on  account  of 
a  certain  jealousy  wliich  is  apt  to  exist  between  them, 
anything  in  the  nature  of  a  real  budget  is  practically  un- 
known. The  calculations,  mental  or  otlierwise,  which 
form  the  basis  of  the  appropriation  committee's  recom- 
mendation, is  the  nearest  approach  to  a  budget  which 
we  in  Pennsylvania  have." 

(9)   The  budget  system,  beins:  I'ight,  will  prevail,  but  its  progress 


54  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  trace  the  general  depart- 
ments of  expenditure  of  the  State. ^°  There  was  appropri- 
ated by  the  session  of  1917  for  Department  and  Govern- 
ment Expenses  for  two  years,  the  sum  of  $35,099,281.13. 
The  judiciary  required  $3,019,115.00  and  the  Legislature 
$962,011.50.  Conmiissions  for  doing  this,  that  and  the 
other  thing  were  nourished  to  the  extent  of  $3,371,400.00. 
A  swarm  of  subjects,  too  numerous  to  be  otherwise  classi- 
fied than  as  "Miscellaneous,"  required  $453,378.89.  For 
education,  including  common  schools,  normal  schools  and 
universities,  there  was  appropriated  the  not  inconsider- 
able sum  of  $21,154,802.42.  To  maintain  the  evil  doers  of 
the  State  where  they  are  not  in  a  position  to  cause  mis- 
chief cost  $1,858,559.96. 

The  remaining  channel  of  expenditure  may  be  com- 
prehended under  the  general  term,  charitable.  The  State 
makes  appropriation  to  three  classes  of  charitable  insti- 
tutions, (1)  Those  institutions  which  are  entirely  sup- 
ported and  controlled  by  the  State,  known  as  State  insti- 
tutions. Among  these  are  hospitals  for  all  grades  of 
mentally  deficient,  hospitals  for  the  sick  and  injured  and 
homes  for  dependents.  (2)  Those  institutions  which  are 
largely  supported  by  the  State  and  over  which  the  State 
has  a  measure  of  control,  but  which  are  also  managed 
and  supported  by  individual  citizens.  These  are  known 
as  semi-State  institutions.  (3)  Finally  comes  the  purely 
private  charities  to  which  the  State  extends  its  generous 
hand.  In  the  year  of  which  we  speak,  the  State  institu- 
tions received  $8,499,886.73,  and  semi-State  institutions 

is  slow.  President  Taft  tried  in  vain  to  have  it  introduced  into  the 
national  government.  The  New  York  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1915  endeavored  to  embody  the  budget  in  the  fundamental  law  of 
that  state,  Art.  V,  but  their  whole  work  was  rejected. 

(10)  Advance  proof  sheets  of  Smull's  Legislative  Handbook  for 
1917.  The  classification  here  given  is  not  very  enlightening,  but  is 
used,  since  details  can  be  found  in  Smull's. 


THE  LEGISLATURE  SPENDING   MONEY.  55 

$1,589,507.87,  and  the  private  charities,  $6,198,175.00.' ^ 
These  figures  will  give  some  conception  of  the  magnitude 
of  the  State  government,  even  from  a  merely  business 
point  of  view.  If  we  compare  the  State  as  a  business  cor- 
poration with  any  other  of  the  small  number  of  corpora- 
tions whose  business  amounts  to  such  enormous  figures, 
we  would  be  amazed  at  the  difference  in  the  attitude  of 
mind  with  which  the  problem  of  expenditure  is  approach- 
ed and  in  the  difference  of  the  calibre  of  the  men  who  are 
charged  with  the  responsibility.  The  members  of  the 
appropriation  committee  themselves  would  be  the  last 
to  claim  that  they  were  leaders  in  business  and  finance. 
They  would  probably  be  satisfied  to  have  it  believed  that 
they  had  done  their  best  according  to  their  several  abili- 
ties. Why  the  practical  citizens  of  a  great  industrial  and 
manufacturing  commonwealth  like  Pennsylvania  are  con- 
tent to  leave  the  distribution  of  the  princely  revenues  of 
the  State  to  such  men  as  they  generally  send  to  their 
Legislature  is  one  of  those  problems  which  must  always 
be  obscure  even  to  those  who  by  study  and  personal  ex- 
perience have  some  ground  for  the  formation  of  an  opin- 
ion. 


(11)  Figures  for  State  institutions  do  not  include  $3,384,180  for 
tuberculosis  sanatoria,  dispensaries,  etc.  under  the  Department  of 
Health.  In  the  figaires  given  in  the  text  the  appropriation  for  the 
indigent  insane  is  included  in  that  to  State  Institutions,  though  not 
all  the  indigent  insane  are  supported  in  such  institutions. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

LEGISLATIOlSr   AS   AN   INSTRUMENT   OF    PEOGEESS. 

TO  know  what  is  possible  is  one  of  the  chief  elements 
of  practicality.  It  is  true  that  at  times  some 
drean«  er  urges  triumphantly  his  seemingly  vision- 
ary scheme  and  the  world  awakens  to  find  it  a  reality,  but 
this  is  a  rare  occurrence,  and  when  it  takes  place  it  is 
only  because  the  world  is  blinded  to  what  the  really  prac- 
tical is.  Some  wild  schemes  succeed,  but  they  succeed  be- 
cause they  are  sound,  not  because  they  are  wild.  Their 
wildness  is  simply  an  additional  handicap  for  their 
soundness  to  overcome.  The  practical  citizen  will  want 
to  assure  himself  of  the  paths  of  progress  that  are  open 
at  the  present,  that  he  may  press  forward  to  the  firing 
line  and  make  his  shots  count  in  the  great  advance.  Of 
all  the  dull-witted  darkeners  of  counsel,  the  most  de- 
structive is  the  idea  that  there  are  no  such  paths.  After 
the  earth  has  progressed  from  a  fiery  nebula  to  a  fertile 
world,  from  a  protozoon  to  a  man,  and  man  from  savagery 
to  civilization,  the  notion  that  present  conditions  are  to 
be  petrified  for  all  future  time  is  more  absurd  than  that 
Niagara  should  halt  in  its  plunge  or  that  time  itself 
should  cease. 

Much  of  the  progress  in  civic  atfairs  must  necessarily 
be  achieved  through  legislation.  This  is  a  powerful  in- 
strument, but  not  all  powerful.  Its  limitations  are  clear. 
It  is  but  the  formal  expression  of  the  will  of  the  people, 
and,  as  mth  the  acts  of  will  of  individuals,  it  may  repre- 
sent a  passing  phase,  not  backed  up  by  solid  conviction. 
Just  as  in  the  individual  mind  there. are  warring  motives 
striving  for  the  upper  hand,  so  in  the  State  there  are  con- 
tending parties,  and  sometimes  laws  are  adopted  by  a 
56 


LEGISLATION    AND    PROGRESS.  57 

bare  majority  so  distasteful  to  the  minority  as  to  cause 
more  trouble  in  enforcement  than  the  majority  are  a))le 
or  willing  to  take.  A  second  limitation  is  the  difficulty 
of  framing  in  words  a  statute  which  must  be  applied  amid 
the  ever  changing  conditions  of  the  world.  The  man  who 
would  write  a  new  law  on  the  statute  book  must  shoulder 
the  responsibility  of  foreseeing  every  possible  set  of  cir- 
cumstances under  which  the  law  might  operate.  The 
most  unexpected  results  oftentimes  flow  from  changes  in 
the  law,  just  as  the  introduction  of  a  few  rabbits  changed 
the  problems  of  the  Australian  farmer.  Notwithstanding 
the  responsibility  involved,  people  with  special  interests 
to  serve  do  not  hesitate  to  urge  legislation  which  will  ful- 
fil their  desires.  Our  whole  system  of  politics  favors  the 
passage  of  such  legislation.  Any  bill  which  does  not 
arouse  serious  antagonism,  political  or  otherwise,  is  more 
likely  to  be  adopted  than  not,  because  it  is  easier  to  give 
a  costless  favor  than  to  withhold  it,  easier  to  please  a 
present  suppliant  than  to  estimate  the  effect  on  a  distant, 
careless  and  ungrateful  public.  The  result  of  this  state 
of  affairs  is  that  our  statute  books  bulk  large  with  medi- 
ocre legislation,  but  that  tliere  is  a  sad  lack  of  cai-efully 
wrought  constructive  statutes.  Progress  there  is,  of 
course,  but  it  is  sporadic,  the  resultant  of  many  individual 
and  incomplete  efforts  rather  than  the  product  of  a  wise 
and  continuous  application  to  the  general  good. 

Since  the  practical  citizen  must  do  much  of 
his  work  through  changes  in  the  law,  it  is  well  that 
he  should  give  consideration  to  the  possibilities  and  limi- 
tations of  law  as  an  instrument  of  human  progress. 
There  are  two  opposing  points  of  view,  each  as 
wrong  as  the  other.  One  adopted  by  those  who, 
whenever  they  see  an  evil,  say,  ''There  ought  to 
be  a  law  against  that";  the  other  by  those  wlio, 
whenever  asked  to  help  some  movement  for  bet- 
terment, reply,  "You  can't  make  men  good  by  law." 


58  STATE  GOVERXMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  former  is  frequently  foolish,  wrong-headed  or  med- 
dlesome, but  at  least  it  springs  from  a  generous  desire 
to  make  things  better,  while  the  latter  is  all  too  frequently 
the  refuge  of  smug  satisfaction  with  things  as  they  are 
when  faced  with  a  call  to  make  them  better.  It  is  true 
enough  that  a  direct  fiat,  ''Thou  shalt  be  good"  seldom 
has  much  effect.  It  is  asserted  that  once  a  member  of 
the  Kansas  Legislature  introduced  a  bill  enacting  the 
ten  commandments.  Had  this  bill  been  adopted  it  is 
not  likely  that  the  commandments  would  have  been  less 
frequently  shattered,  yet  the  very  existence  of  our  statute 
law  as  a  whole  bears  irrefutable  testimony  to  the  fact, 
that  while  it  may  be  impossible  to  make  men  moral  by 
law,  it  is  still  possible  to  restrain  and  encourage  them, 
and  in  many  ways  support,  protect  and  advance  the  civi- 
lization which  the  world  has  so  laboriously  built  up. 
When  the  expression  that  men  are  not  to  be  made  moral 
by  statute  is  used  as  a  guiding  and  restraining  principle 
in  an  effort  to  discover  the  most  effective  form  of  statu- 
tory attack  upon  the  problem  in  hand,  it  is  a  useful  sum- 
mary of  considerable  experience,  but  when  it  is  used  in 
condemnation  of  laudable  effort  at  statutory  betterment, 
or  in  excuse  of  indifference  to  such  efforts,  it  is  always 
suggestive  of  lack  of  interest  in  public  improvement. 

The  best  example  of  the  type  of  legislation  which  re- 
quires that  a  citizen  shall  or  shall  not  do  a  specific  thing, 
is  the  criminal  law.  Bounds  are  laid  down  that  must 
not  be  overstepped,  and  a  penalty  is  fixed  for  any  infrac- 
tion. The  usefulness  and  even  the  necessity  of  such  legis- 
lation, of  course,  cannot  be  gainsaid,  but  the  penal  method 
has  always  been  found  singularly  ineffective  in  securing 
obedience  to  the  general  will.  In  older  days  it  was  sup- 
posed that  the  effectiveness  of  the  statute  was  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  severity  of  the  punishment,  and  conse- 
quently a  great  number  of  offences  were  punishable  by 
death.    Yet  experience  has  proved  that  this  theory  is  by 


LEGISLATION    AND    PROGRESS.  59 

no  means  correct,  and  there  has  been  a  steady  ameliora- 
tion of  the  penal  aspect  of  statutory  law.  The  fact  seems 
to  be  that  men's  desires  are  stronger  than  their  fear  of 
punishment,  especially  among  the  criminal  classes,  whose 
imaginations  are  seldom  active.  When  this  lack  of  the 
apprehension  of  the  consequences  of  crime  is  strength- 
ened by  the  known  failures  in  the  administration  of  crim- 
inal law,  it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  criminal 
code  is  not  more  effective  in  securing  obedience  to  the 
settled  will  of  the  community. 

While  we  shall  never  be  able  to  get  away  from  the 
direct  methods  of  legislating  against  crime,  future  gen- 
erations will  see  a  great  extension  of  the  tendency  which 
is  now  evident  of  attacking  the  other  branch  of  the  prob- 
lem. If  men's  desires  are  stronger  than  their  fear  of 
punishment  the  w^ise.way  w^ould  seem  to  be  to  influence 
the  men  so  that  their  desires  would  come  into  harmony 
with  the  best  will  of  the  community.  That  men  can  be 
influenced  is  an  idea  which  is  much  more  strongly  held 
in  modern  times  than  of  old,  since  it  is  now  realized  that 
what  men  are,  including  what  they  desire,  is  to  a  very 
large  extent  moulded  by  the  circumstances  with  which 
they  are  surrounded  from  their  earliest  days.  Hence 
modern  ideas  dictate  the  indirect  method  of  approaching 
the  problem  of  human  wrong-doing. 

A  study  of  child  life  has  brought  us  to  realize  that 
many  of  the  acts  of  children  which  have  hitherto  been 
classed  as  crimes,  as  similar  acts  of  adults  would  properly 
be,  are  simply  the  overflowing  of  natural  childish  energy 
which  in  itself  is  a  sign  of  health  rather  than  of  criminal 
tendencies.  The  older  method  would  have  been  to  con- 
fine the  child  in  jail  till  it  had  no  more  energy  to  overflow. 
The  newer  method  is  to  surround  the  child  with  condi- 
tions which  permit  the  full  exercise  of  all  his  faculties  in 
useful  and  educative  directions.     To  this  end  we  have 


60  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  whole  playgrounds  movement,  which  is  cloing  so  much 
for  the  youth  of  the  country  at  large. 

The  Child  Labor  laws,  with  their  complement  in  the 
laws  requiring  a  continuation  of  education  after  leaving 
the  ordinary  public  schools,  are  calculated  to  the  same 
end, — the  protection  of  the  young  life  until  it  reaches 
adult  self-sufficiency. 

Students  of  human  life  now  realize  also  that  the  home 
conditions  under  which  children  are  brought  up  have 
vastly  more  to  do  with  the  question  of  whether  they  are 
willing  to  obey  the  law  or  not  than  has  their  fear  of  being 
caught  and  punished.  Overcrowded  and  insanitary  liv- 
ing conditions,  lack  of  privacy  and  insufficient  opportun- 
ity for  cleanliness  obstruct  seriously  the  development  of 
normal  characters;  consequently,  those  who  would  im- 
prove the  citizenship  of  the  State  are  striving  diligently 
for  the  passage  of  laws  which  make  impossible  the  serious 
evils  which  are  now  too  prevalent  in  the  housing  condi- 
tions of  a  large  section  of  the  population. 

It  is  also  known  that,  to  a  considerable  degree,  what 
used  to  be  set  down  in  boys  to  pure  badness  is  really 
due  to  illness,  physical  or  mental.  It  is  possible  to  whip 
a  feeble-minded  child  because  it  will  not  learn,  but  it  mil 
learn  faster  if  treated  as  only  modern  science  knows  how 
to  treat  the  unfortunate  of  that  condition.  Consequently, 
we  are  now  developing  medical  inspection  in  public 
schools  and  we  are  providing  for  public  sanitation  in  a 
way  that  was  never  known  before. 

Many  of  the  evil  conditions  which  surround  the  grow- 
ing citizen  are  traceable  primarily  to  poverty  and  where 
that  poverty  can  be  relieved  by  State  action  the  State 
is  beginning  to  fulfil  its  duty.  Up  until  the  first  of  Janu- 
ary, 1916,  the  dependents  of  a  workman  killed  or  injured 
at  his  industry  had  almost  no  chance  of  any  recovery  for 
the  loss  which  they  had  sustained.  Frequently  such  a 
death  or  injury  reduced  the  family  to  the  most  abject 


LEGISLATION    AND    PROGRESS.  61 

poverty  and  finally  cast  a  burden  upon  the  community 
to  be  shouldered  through  the  inefficient  and  wasteful 
methods  of  the  poor-laws.  Good  citizenship  seldom 
comes  out  of  the  almshouse.  But  now  poverty  due  to 
industrial  accident  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  workmen 
injured  in  their  ordinary  task  are  assured  for  themselves 
or  their  family  of  a  reasonable  compensation. 

Another  very  similar  source  of  social  loss  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  community  supported  the  chil- 
dren of  widowed  mothers,  either  by  public  or  private 
charity,  while  the  mothers  labored  to  support  themselves. 
The  widow 's  pension  law  simply  hires  the  mother  to  take 
care  of  her  own  children,  as  Pharaoh's  daughter  took 
care  of  Moses,  and  so  achieves  a  better  result  with  little 
or  no  additional  expense.  The  system  of  mother's  pen- 
sions has  not  yet  been  fully  developed,  and  there  is  a  large 
field  for  the  activities  of  the  practical  citizen  in  the  im- 
proving and  extending  this  portion  of  the  statute  law. 

The  same  theory  of  the  prevention  of  crime  by  im- 
proving environment  is  worked  out  even  with  those  who 
have  already  committed  crimes.  It  is  now  realized  that 
criminals  are  human  beings,  and  that  human  beings  sur- 
rounded by  the  conditions  of  the  ordinary  prison  are  apt 
to  become  more  and  more  confirmed  in  their  hatred  of 
society.  Consequently,  we  find  prison  conditions  being 
constantly  improved,  not  for  the  purpose  of  the  more 
hospitable  entertainment  of  the  involuntary  guests  of  the 
Commonwealth,  but  in  order  that  the  human  material 
within  the  walls  of  our  penal  institutions  may  be  re- 
moulded into  useful  forms.  The  task  of  changing  prison 
environments  calls  for  unusually  wise,  able,  and  sympa- 
thetic prison  administrators.  It  also  calls  for  a  thorough 
revision  of  the  statutes  which  regulate  punishment  and 
the  conduct  of  penal  institutions.  Much  lias  been  done 
in  recent  years.  Prisoners  may  now  be  employed  at  use- 
ful labor  to  an  extent  which  was  hitherto  impossible,  but 


62  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

there  is  still  a  large  field  for  careful  and  conscientious 
study,  and,  in  so  far  as  prisoners  may  be  reclaimed  by 
humane  treatment,  it  can  be  said  in  the  most  literal  sense 
that  men  can  be  made  good  by  statute. 

The  common  element  in  all  of  the  methods  of  forcing 
improvement  through  law  which  we  have  suggested  is 
that  they  work  by  indirection  through  a  change  in  the 
environment  of  the  citizen.  There  is  another  great  prin- 
ciple which  wdll  assist  in  guiding  the  practical  citizen  to 
legislative  effort  that  is  worth  while.  This  principle  is 
that  the  possibility  of  achieving  an  end  by  means  of  law 
depends  very  largely  upon  the  adequacy  of  the  machin- 
ery which  is  set  up  by  law  for  that  purpose.  Of  course, 
a  large  part  of  the  machinery  of  government  would  come 
under  this  category,  and  any  improvement  in  it  would 
be  an  example  of  what  has  just  been  said,  but  coming 
down  to  very  much  more  specific  matters,  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  see  that  the  failures  in  certain  directions,  which 
so  often  discourage  people  about  the  possibility  of  im- 
provement through  law,  have  been  due  to  defects  in  the 
means  which  the  draftsman  of  the  act  selected  to  make 
his  idea  workable. 

One  of  the  first  equipments  of  a  person  who  is  about 
to  draft  a  law  Avhich  will  put  into  force  a  totally  new 
idea  in  legislation,  is  a  thorough  understanding  of  human 
nature  and  an  ability  to  foresee  what  the  reaction  of  peo- 
ple general^  will  be  to  the  law  intended.  If  the  law  to 
be  enacted  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  receive  general  ac- 
quiescence, it  is  not  necessary  to  elaborate  the 
machiner\^  with  which  it  is  to  be  put  in  force; 
but  if  there  is  a  powerful  element  in  the  com- 
munity whose  interest  is  deeply  engaged  in  cir- 
cumventing the  law,  then  the  utmost  care  must  be  taken 
that  the  machinery  shall  be  adequate.  The  election  laws 
are  a  good  example  of  this  sort  of  elaboration.  The  great 
bulk  of  the  laws  governing  elections  is  due  to  the  fact 


LEGISLATION    AND    PROGRESS.  63 

that  it  is  an  immense  clerical  job  to  ascertain  in  the  course 
of  one  day  and  record  properly  the  will  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  people.  But  another  large  part  of  the  elec- 
tion laws  has  found  its  way  upon  the  statute  book  in  an 
effort  to  circumvent  one  after  another  the  various 
schemes  which  have  been  thpug'ht  out  to  subvert  the  elec- 
tion and  make  it  record  the  will  of  the  voters  falsely.  At 
the  very  outset  it  is  necessary  to  prevent  people  from  vot- 
ing who  have  no  right  to  do  so.  Earlier  laws  on  the  sub- 
ject having  proven  insufficient,  it  was  necessary  to  enact 
the  Personal  Registration  law.  These  acts  do  not  make 
the  repeater  any  more  moral,  he  is  not  made  good  by 
statute,  but  he  is  almost  entirely  prevented  from  regis- 
tering. Secondly,  it  is  necessary  to  provide  that  the  will 
of  the  voter  as  expressed  by  the  ballot  is  his  will,  and 
not  that  of  someone  else,  so  we  have  the  secret  voting 
booth,  the  unidentifiable  ballot  and  provisions  against 
bribery.  The  Corrupt  Practices  Act  is  simply  an  elabor- 
ate piece  of  machinery  for  the  purpose  of  trying  to  make 
bribery  impossible.  The  job  is  so  difficult  that  even  this 
elaborate  piece  of  legislation  goes  but  a  short  way,  but 
it  has  its  distinct  usefulness  and  is  a  good  example  of 
the  evolving  machinery  required  to  meet  the  situation 
brought  about  by  a  constant  effort  to  evade  law.  One 
loophole  which  has  availed  the  briber  and  intimidator  has 
been  the  permission  granted  to  the  voter  to  ask  for 
assistance  in  the  marking  of  his  ballot.  This  loophole 
has  been  pretty  fairly  stopped  so  far  as  voting  in  the 
primary  is  concerned,  but  it  is  still  open  in  voting  at 
the  general  election.  What  a  serious  defect  in  the  machin- 
ery of  the  law  this  is  can  only  be  realized  by  those  who 
have  had  considerable  experience  at  the  polls.  A  proper 
assistance  clause  in  the  general  election  act  would  not 
make  people  more  moral,  but  it  would  protect  the  secrecy 
and  inviolability  of  the  ballot. 

The   Civil   Service  Reform   Act   affords   a  beautiful 


64  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

example  of  what  elaborate  machinery  is  sometimes  re- 
quired to  support  the  good  instincts  of  public  officials  and 
protect  them  against  destructive  influences.  These  acts 
cannot  have  any  very  direct  influence  upon  the  character 
of  public  administrators,  but  they  do  compel  the  selection 
to  public  office  of  men  who  have  proved  themselves  rea- 
sonably competent  for  their  positions  and,  to  a  very  large 
degree,  restrain  the  public  official  from  making  use  of  his 
office  as  a  political  machine.  Of  course,  these  ends  are 
not  entirely  secured,  partly  because  the  machinery  is  not 
yet  perfect,  partly  because  perfection  in  such  an  end  is 
beyond  the  reach  of  machinery,  but  it  has  been  demon- 
strated to  the  satisfaction  of  every  fair-minded  man  that 
the  introduction  of  such  machinery  results  in  improved 
conditions,  and  the  practical  citizen  will  be  interested  in 
studying  the  make-up  and  operation  of  machinery  of  this 
kind  in  order  that  it  may  be  adapted  to  other  salutary 
purposes. 

The  short  ballot,  small  council,  and  other  devices  for 
securing  concentrated  control  and  responsibility  simi- 
larly illustrate  how  much  can  be  accomplished  by  a 
proper  adaptation  of  means  to  ends.  The  short  ballot  does 
not  make  the  voter  any  more  intelligent,  it  simply  presents 
him  no  more  candidates  than  he  is  able  actually  to  select 
from  his  personal  knowledge.  The  result  is  a  much 
closer  approximation  in  government  to  the  popular  will. 
Senator  Root,  in  defending  the  provisions  of  the  draft  of 
New  York's  new  constitution,  which  provided  for  a  con- 
centration of  power  on  the  short  ballot  principle,  indicated 
most  forcibly  his  belief  in  the  idea  that  the  mere  machin- 
ery of  government  had  much  to  do  with  the  question  of  the 
existence  of  invisible  government. 

The  idea  that  machinery  may  aid  morality  runs 
through  all  the  elaborate  procedure  of  awarding  and  let- 
ting contracts.  It  is  well  known  that  there  is  a  constant 
tendency  to  take  advantage  of  public  bodies  in  doing  con- 


LEGISLATION    AND    PROGRESS.  65 

tract  work.  Secret  and  competitive  bidding  takes  it  out 
of  the  power  of  the  public  officer  to  show  favoritism 
among  rival  contractors.  The  machinery  in  this  direc- 
tion is  not  yet  perfect.  There  is  much  for  the  practical 
citizen  to  do  in  this  direction,  yet  what  has  been  done 
illustrates  the  point. 

What  has  already  been  said  at  an  earlier  point  in  this 
book  about  the  contrast  between  the  destruction  of  civic 
virtue  which  arises  from  the  distribution  of  public  funds 
to  private  charities  and  the  total  absence  of  such  disturb- 
ing features  from  the  distribution  of  a  still  larger  sum 
among  the  various  public  school  districts  of  the  State, 
illustrates  perhaps  more  clearly  than  anything  else  the 
tremendous  differences  which  result  merely  from  a  change 
in  the  machinery  by  which  a  thing  is  done. 

With  all  the  illustrations  just  given  of  how  statute  law 
may  modify  the  conditions  of  life  and,  therefore,  the 
character  and  welfare  of  the  citizens  of  the  State,  and  of 
how  the  better  motives  of  men  may  be  protected  and 
brought  out  and  the  sinister  motives  checked  by  the  con- 
struction of  adequate  machinery  for  carrying  out  the 
purposes  of  govermnent,  no  one  sincerely  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  the  Commonw^ealth  ought  to  be  deterred 
from  exerting  his  best  endeavors  by  the  reiteration  of  re- , 
marks  about  there  being  too  much  law  and  about  the  im- 
possibility of  reforming  men  by  statutes. 

There  is,  of  course,  the  danger  that  too  much  tnist 
may  be  placed  in  statutory  enactment.  This  danger  must 
be  avoided  by  the  reasonable  citizen  as  he  would  avoid 
any  other  danger.  The  recent  craze  for  blue  sky  la^vs 
would  illustrate  as  well  perhaps  as  anything  else  the  over- 
confidence  in  machinery  as  a  method  of  protection.  Ever 
since  the  corporation  became  the  ordinary  way  of  trans- 
acting large  businesses,  the  industry  of  selling  worthless 
stocks  and  bonds  has  flourished.  It  is  simply  one.  variety 
of  fraud  and  the  abuse  of  confidence,  but  it  was  felt  that 


66  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

transactions  in  stocks  and  bonds  were  insufficiently 
hedged  about  and  that  the  public  must  be  protected 
against  themselves.  Where  this  idea  was  taken  up  with 
sufficient  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  the  subject,  some 
valuable  statutes  were  passed,  but  in  too  many  cases  the 
business  of  buying  and  selling  securities  was  so  loaded 
down  with  statutory  requirements  that  the  cure  was 
worse  than  the  disease. 

The  whole  subject  of  the  possibilities  and  limitations 
of  legislation  is  worthy  of  much  more  consideration  than 
it  has  ever  received.  There  are  some  few  treatises  on 
the  subject  of  statute  draftsmanship,  but  they  are  almost 
entirely  from  the  technical,  legal  point  of  view.  An  ade- 
quate study  of  the  place  of  statute  law  in  building  up 
the  life  of  the  community,  written  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  statesman,  still  remains  to  be  made. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    LEGISLATIVE    REFERENCE    BUREAU COMMISSIONS. 

PERHAPS  it  is  a  necessary  implication  of  represen- 
tative government  that  the  legislator,  however  un- 
instructed  his  previous  condition,  acquires  by  vir- 
tue of  his  election  a  supreme  ability  to  pass  upon  the 
most  difficult  questions  of  the  time.  At  any  rate,  we 
act  as  though  such  were  the  case,  for  our  laws  are 
made  by  a  group  of  men  who  themselves  would  be  the 
last  to  claim  intellectual  eminence  or  unusual  breadth  of 
information.  And  not  only  is  it  true  that  our  legislators 
are  but  slightly  above  the  average  in  ability,  but  also  it 
is  true  that  they  must  constantly  make  vital  decisions 
while  distracted  by  political  turmoil  and  exhausted  by 
the  effort  to  keep  up  their  usual  business  activities. 

It  would  seem  to  be  a  good  policy  for  a  State  whose 
laws  are  enacted  by  such  men  to  make  information  on 
the  subjects  of  legislation  as  easy  of  assimilation  as  pos- 
sible, as  the  provident  bee  keeper  provides  wax  founda- 
tion combs,  to  conserve  the  efforts  of  the  bees  for  more 
profitable  labor.  To  a  certain  extent  this  policy  has  long 
been  recognized,  and  the  Congressional  Library,  to- 
gether with  the  State  libraries  of  the  several  Common- 
wealths, testify  to  the  belief  that  it  is  a  good  thing  for 
a  legislator  to  be  able  to  get  a  book  when  he  wants  it. 

It  remained  for  Dr.  Charles  McCarthy  of  Wisconsin 
to  realize  the  necessity  of  the  next  logical  step  and  to 
take  it  in  practice.^ 

This  step  is  the  establishment  of  a  special  department 
of  the  government  whose  sole  business    it   shall    be    to 


(1)   "The  Wisconsin  Idea"  by  Dr.  Charles  McCarthy,  pp.  207  ff. 
New  York,  The  MacMillaii  Company,  1912. 

67 


68  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

gather  information  concerning  every  matter  likely  to 
become  a  subject  of  legislation.  Such  departments  are 
called  "Legislative  Reference  Bureaus."  They  exist 
now  in  a  number  of  States,  usually  in  connection  with 
State  libraries.  It  can  readily  be  seen  that  one  man  or 
a  small  body  of  men,  especially  trained,  thoroughly 
equipped,  and  required  to  do  nothing  else  is  able  to 
gather  and  arrange  a  mass  of  information  on  legisla- 
tive subjects  such  as  the  legislators  themselves  not  only 
never  would,  but  also  never  could,  discover  for  them- 
selves. It  is  a  practical  answer  to  Goethe's  cry,  ''More 
light." 

Pennsylvania  was  not  long  in  imitating  Wisconsin  in 
this  improvement.  In  1909  -  a  legislative  reference  bur- 
eau was  organized  as  a  part  of  the  State  library,  and 
manned  by  a  director  and  an  assistant  director,  the  lat- 
ter required  to  be  learned  in  the  law.  This  bureau  is 
now  in  complete  running  order  and  has  already  proved 
of  great  assistance  to  the  Legislature,  how  great  can  only 
be  realized  by  members  who  have  served  before  and  since 
its  creation.  The  material  gathered  by  it  is  largely  in 
the  form  of  pamphlets  and  clippings,  since  the  legislator 
can  seldom  get  much  assistance  out  of  books,  because  he 
is  at  the  apex  of  events,  doing  the  things  which  will 
afterwards  be  written  about. 

So  well  satisfied  Avas  the  Legislature  with  the  ability 
displayed  by  the  Legislative  Reference  Bureau  that  they 
intrusted  to  it  a  work  of  the  greatest  importance  and 
difficulty,  nothing  less  than  the  codification  of  the  whole 
statute  law  of  the  State. ^  The  mere  word  ''code"  seems 
to  frighten  many  able  members  of  the  bar.  If  it  is  used 
to  signify    any  attempt  to  petrify  the  living  principles 

(2)  Act  April  27,  1909,  P.  L.  208.     Amended  by  Act  April  21, 
1911,  P.  L.  76. 

(3)  Act  of  May  20,  1913,^  P.  L.  250.     Continued  under  Act  May 
14,  1915,  P.  L.  474  and  Act  May  3,  1917,  P.  L. 


REFERENCE    BUREAU — COMMISSIONS.  69 

of  the  law  into  statute  form,  the  fear  is  justified,  but  the 
Legislature  had  no  such  idea  in  mind. 

The  problem  which  confronted  them  was  this :  When 
Pennsylvania  started  its  career  it  adopted  the  statute 
law  of  England  entire,  as  far  as  it  could  be  made  to  fit 
the  new  environment,  and  these  laws  were  never  re- 
pealed as  a  whole.  In  order  to  relieve  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent the  confusion  of  such  a  wholesale  yet  indefinite  adop- 
tion in  1807  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court 
were  directed  to  ascertain  what  British  statutes 
were  in  force  in  Pennsylvania  at  that  time.^ 
Since  then  the  Legislature  has  gone  on  enacting, 
amending,  supplementing  and  repealing,  expressly  or  by 
implication,  and  the  courts  have  been  busy  holding  in- 
valid parts  or  the  whole  of  statutes,  until  the  statute  laAV 
has  come  to  be  an  almost  impenetrable  thicket.  Most  im- 
portant of  all,  the  silent  march  of  time  has  left  many  a 
statute  sleeping  quietly  as  obsolete,  until  galvanized  into 
activity  amid  wholly  unforeseen  and  incompatible  sur- 
roundings. 

Sporadic  and  partial  efforts  have  been  made  from 
time  to  time  to  alleviate  the  difficulty,  as  for  instance, 
the  criminal  code  of  1860,^  and  more  recently  the  splen- 
did example  of  the  school  code,^  to  clear  the  ground  for 
which  stately  structure  the  repeal  of  two  hundred  acts 
was  necessary.  If  this  ratio  were  to  continue  to  hold  for 
a  complete  codification  the  whole  body  of  statute  law 
would  be  reduced,  at  least  as  far  as  number  of  statutes 
is  concerned,  to  one  two  hundredth  of  its  former  extent. 

It  was  no  part  of  the  idea  of  the  Legislature  in  in- 
structing the  Legislative  Reference  Bureau  to  codify  the 
statute  law  that  new^  statute  law  should  be  created  or  that 
any  hitherto  fluid  proposition  of  law  should  be  frozen 

(4)  Act  April  7,  1807,  P.  L.  163. 

(5)  Act  of  March  31,  1800,  P.  L.  382. 

(6)  Act  of  May  18,  1911.  P.  L.  309. 


70  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

by  enactment.  It  was  only  proposed  that  the  State 
should  begin  to  make  it  plain  to  its  citizens  what  was  the 
actual  statute  law  of  to-day,  now  that  the  Legislature 
had  been  at  the  task  of  making  it  for  two  and  a  quarter 
odd  centuries.  Could  the  State  owe  less  to  the  citizen 
who  obeys  this  law  at  his  peril? 

The  magnitude  of  the  task  was  clearly  recognized. 
Results  worth  attaining  could  not  be  had  by  a  mere  fiat. 
Ability,  pains  and  time  were  requisite.  The  ability  and 
the  willingness  to  take  pains  were  ready  at  hand  in  the 
Legislative  Reference  Bureau  and  the  assistants  whom 
the  adequate  appropriation  enabled  the  bureau  to  secure. 
The  time  element  was  provided  for  by  directing  results 
to  be  submitted  to  the  Legislature  topic  by  topic,  so  that 
the  progress  made  would  be  apparent  and  the  Legisla- 
ture would  not  be  tempted  to  ignore  the  whole  on  account 
of  its  vastness,  as  might  result  if  the  whole  code  were 
presented  at  any  one  time. 

The  bureau  entered  upon  the  work  in  the  fullest  sym- 
pathy with  the  aim  of  the  Legislature.  The  results  of 
two  years'  work  were  offered  to  the  session  of  1915  as 
codes  under  four  titles,  ''taxation,"  "corporations," 
"boroughs"  and  a  "general  repealer  of  obsolete  stat- 
utes." The  Legislature  found  it  easier  to  ignore 
than  to  consider  this  large  work  and  passed  only  the 
borough  code."^  The  rest  of  the  work,  however,  once 
done,  is  not  lost  and  in  time  the  people  of  Pennsylvania 
will  come  to  have  a  compact,  logical  and  self-consistent 
set  of  statutes.  The  bureau  was  directed  to  continue  its 
work  of  codification  by  the  Legislatures  of  1915  and 
1917.S 

During  the  session  of  the  Legislature  the  bureau  is 
a  busy  place.    Members  constantly  come  and  go.    Some 

(7)  Act  of  May  14,  1915,  P.  L.  312.     The  repealing  clause,  made 
up  of  the  mere  titles  of  acts  repealed,  occupies  45  pages. 

(8)  Act  of  May  14,  1915,  P.  L.  474.    Act  of  May  3,  1917,  P.  L. 


REFERENCE    BUREAU COMMISSIONS.  71 

want  bills  drawn.  Some  want  to  know  what  other  bills 
similar  to  the  one  they  have  introduced  are  already 
before  one  or  the  other  of  the  Houses.  Some  want  liter- 
ature on  subjects  in  which  they  are  interested  and  on 
which  they  expect  to  address  the  House.  For  all  de- 
mands the  well  organized  machinery  of  the  bureau  is 
ready.  The  ideas  which  the  member  who  wants  a  bill 
drawn  has  in  mind  are  noted  down,  the  files  are  searched 
for  all  light  on  the  subject  that  is  at  hand,  and  the  bill 
is  drawn.  A  criticism  that  has  been  made  is  that  it  is 
now  too  easy  to  have  a  bill  drawn,  and  that  as  a  conse- 
quence too  many  bills  are  introduced.  This  criticism  is 
not  justified.  Of  course,  the  bureau  would  have  no  right 
to  refuse  to  draw  a  bill  for  a  member,  or  to  usurp  the 
function  of  the  Legislature  by  opposing  any  subject  of 
legislation,  but  in  performing  its  functions  of  giving  in- 
formation to  the  members,  it  is  able  to  point  out  to  those 
who  desire  a  bill,  that  the  subject  is  already  covered  by 
a  statute,  if  that  be  the  case,  or  that  a  simple  amendment 
to  already  existing  law  would  be  better  than  a  new  act, 
or  that  the  proposed  bill  is  in  violation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  in  general  to  shed  a  great  deal  of  light  on  the 
subject,  with  the  result  that  the  stream  of  legislation  is 
purified  at  its  source. 

When  a  member  read  his  calendar,  in  the  days  before 
the  establishment  of  tlie  Reference  Bureau,  and  saw 
among  the  day's  work  a  bill  in  which  he  was  interested, 
but  about  the  subject  of  which  he  lacked  certain  definite 
information,  he  resigned  himself  to  the  necessity  of  act- 
ing without  the  information.  Now  he  claps  his  hands, 
and  tells  the  page  who  answers  his  signal  to  get  the  re- 
quired information  from  the  bureau.  In  a  marvelously 
short  time  the  information  is  brought.  The  promptitude 
which  characterizes  the  bureau  is  made  possible  by  its 
extensive  and  elaborate  index  system  which  makes  its 
large  store  of  material  instantly  available. 


72  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  establisliinent  of  the  Legislative  Reference  Bur- 
eau was  one  of  those  permanent  gains  that  mark  the 
progress  in  government  building. 

COMMISSIONS. 

It  frequently  happens  that  a  piece  of  public  business 
needs  to  be  done  that  falls  within  the  duty  of  no  public 
officer  and  which  is  not  of  sufficient  importance  to  war- 
rant the  creation  of  a  new  official  to  care  for  it.  The 
usual  method  of  meeting  such  a  situation  is  the  creation 
of  a  special  commission  for  the  purpose.  These  commis- 
sions are  numerous,  and  may  roughly  be  divided  into 
legislative  commissions  and  executive  commissions. 

The  legislative  commissions  are  those  charged  with 
some  duty  which  is  of  assistance  to  the  Legislature  in  its 
w^ork.  The  Legislative  Eeference  Bureau  is  a  perman- 
ent part  of  the  State  government  and  is  always  at  work 
collecting  information  for  the  Legislature.  Special  oc- 
casions arise,  however,  when  the  Legislature  desires  to 
be  informed  on  some  subject  which  requires  examination 
of  experts  in  the  particular  subject  to  be  studied.  When 
the  examination  has  been  made  and  the  report  rendered, 
the  commission  has  done  its  work  and  may  retire,  while 
a  special  office,  had  it  been  created,  would  not  have  been 
so  easily  disposed  of.  A  good  example  of  such  a  com- 
mission is  that  which  was  created  to  draft  the  school 
code.  It  would  not  have  been  possible  for  the  whole 
Legislature  to  have  done  the  work  of  study  and  consul- 
tation which  was  required  to  produce  the  school  code,  nor 
could  any  ordinary  committee  have  been  expected  to  do 
it.  The  work  required  a  broad  knowledge  of  educational 
problems  and  a  general  acquaintance  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  different  parts  of  the  State.  The  Legisla- 
ture, by  creating  this  commission,  practically  made  it  one 
of  its  own  committees,  and  when  the  resulting  act  was 
adopted,  there  was  little  in  it  that  was  not  the  work  of 


REFERENCE    BUREAU COMMISSIONS.  73 

the  commission.  Other  problems  are  handled  in  the  same 
way,  and  when  the  proponents  of  new  measures  of  social 
advance  find  that  the  minds  of  the  legislators  are  not 
suflSciently  prepared  to  act  formally  on  their  suggestion, 
they  frequently  urge  that  the  matter  be  referred  to  a 
special  commission  for  study  and  report.  Use  is  also 
made  of  the  commission  by  the  opponents  of  such  legis- 
lation, for  they  frequently  succeed  in  sidetracking  some 
bill  that  might  otherwise  have  passed,  by  having  the 
whole  subject  to  which  it  relates  referred  to  a  commis- 
sion for  report  at  the  next  session,  two  years  away.  Most 
legislators  when  puzzled  are  glad  to  vote  for  delay,  so 
the  commission  idea  has  many  friends. 

Another  typical  form  of  legislative  commission  is 
the  Investigating  Commission,  sometimes  called  a  Lexow 
Commission,  after  the  name  of  a  member  of  the  New 
York  Legislature  who  headed  a  famous  commission  of 
this  nature.  When  an  investigating  commission  is  cre- 
ated by  joint  resolution,  that  is,  by  action  of  both  Houses, 
it  has  all  the  power  of  the  Houses  tliemselves  in  compell- 
ing attendance  and  punishing  contempt,  so  that  it  is  a 
very  powerful  means  of  bringing  hidden  things  to  light. 
Unfortunately,  it  is  all  too  frequently  emploj^ed  for  par- 
tisan purposes.  Hence  the  reputation  of  the  investigat- 
ing committee  is  not  of  the  best. 

Executive  commissions  are  those  which  are  charged 
with  the  doing  of  a  particular  piece  of  work,  other  than 
that  of  securing  information  for  the  Legislature,  e.  g., 
the  Commission  to  Select  a  Site  and  Erect  an  Industrial 
Home  for  Women.  There  have  been  a  great  number  of 
such  commissions,  since  it  has  been  the  custom  to  create 
a  commission  for  the  building  of  each  new  State  institu- 
tion. Other  temporary  State  activities  have  their  own 
commissions,  of  which  the  Capitol  Park  Extension  Com- 
mission is  a  type.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  enumerate 
the  commissions  of  this  nature  existing  at  present,  as 


74  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

they  are  constantly  changing  as  new  work  is  found  that 
is  not  within  the  purview  of  any  State  official. 

Although  as  a  general  rule  the  members  of  a  commis- 
sion are  selected  from  the  citizenship  outside  the  State 
employ,  there  is  no  reason  why  State  officials  should  not 
also  serve  on  special  connnissions,  and  for  them  to  do  so 
is  by  no  means  rare.  An  interesting  case  where  a  com- 
mission of  three  citizens  not  in  State  employ  was  contin- 
ued with  its  membership  changed  to  consist  entirely  of 
State  officers,  is  that  of  the  Economy  and  Efficiency  Com- 
mission. 

This  commission  was  created  by  joint  resolution.*^  of 
the  Legislature  of  1913,  directing  the  Governor  to  ap- 
point * '  three  persons  who  are  well  versed  in  business  and 
governmental  affairs,  and  in  systems  of  economy  and 
efficiency  in  administration."  The  duty  of  this  coromis- 
sion  was  *'to  investigate  the  number,  character  of  duties 
and  compensation  of  all  persons  in  the  employ  of  the 
State ;  and  to  ascertain  and  recommend  what  changes,  if 
any,  may  be  necessary  to  secure  greater  uniformity, 
economy  and  efficiency  in  the  work  of  the  various  depart- 
ments, branches,  bureaus,  and  commissions  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  this  State."  This  was  rather  a  large  task, 
and  the  report  of  this  commission  touches  on  a  number 
of  matters,  without  going  very  deeply  into  any.  How- 
ever, it  made  a  number  of  valuable  suggestions,  which 
the  Legislature,  on  receiving  the  report,  promptly 
ignored.  Chief  among  these  was  the  recommendation 
that  a  State  Civil  Service  system  should  be  established. 

Those  interested  in  economy  and  efficiency  probably 
felt  that  the  coldness  of  the  Legislature  arose  from  the 
fact  that  the  suggestions  came  from  outsiders,  so  by  the 
next  Legislature,^'*  the  task  was  laid  upon  a  new  com- 
mission made  up  of  the  Governor,  Attorney  General  and 

(9)  Approved  July  25,  1913,  P.  L.  1260. 

(10)  Concurrent  resolution  approved,  June  17,  1915,  P.  L.  1082. 


REFERENCE    BUREAU COMMISSIONS.  (D 

Auditor  General.  It  mig'lit  be  supposed  that  these  offici- 
als would  have  the  power  and  duty  of  performing  such 
work  by  virtue  of  their  offices,  but  the  Legislature  did 
not  seem  to  think  so.  The  new  commission  employed  as 
their  solicitor  the  chairman  of  the  old  commission,  and 
the  only  report  of  the  second  commission  printed  is  the 
report  of  their  solicitor,  so  there  is  a  strong  family  like- 
ness between  the  two  commissions.  Accompanying  this 
report  is  a  chart  showing  the  relationship  of  all  boards, 
bureaus,  commissions  and  departments  comprising  the 
executive  branch  of  the  State  government.  This  chart 
exhibits  in  a  graphic  way  much  that  we  have  written  of 
in  this  book,  and  for  that  reason  has  been  adopted  as  a 
frontispiece. 

Unfortunately  the  Legislature  paid  little  more  atten-. 
tion  to  the  report  of  the  second  commission,  thougli  this 
commission  was  composed  of  the  highest  State  officers, 
than  it  did  to  the  first,  which  goes  to  show  that  it  is  hard 
to  get  the  Legislature  to  do  anything,  and  especially  hard 
to  make  it  enthusiastic  for  economv  and  efficiencv. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE  EXECUTIVB. 


THE  executive  of  Pennsylvania  is  a  department,  and 
not,  as  in  tlie  case  of  the  United  States,  a  person,^ 
yet  the  Pennsylvania  Constitution  is  careful  to 
leave  no  doubt  as  to  who  is  chief  in  that  department.  It 
provides,  "The  supreme  executive  power  shall  be  vested 
in  the  Governor. ' '  -  Great  stress  was  placed  on  this  clause 
by  a  recent  picturesque  chief  executive  in  controversy  with 
a  newspaper  over  the  right  of  cartoonists  to  portray  their 
opinion  of  the  Governor.  It  need  hardly  be  pointed  out 
that  ''supreme  executive  power"  is  still  only  executive 
power,  power  to  execute  the  laws,  and  that  the  Governor 
can  no  more  transcend  them  than  the  humblest  cartooner. 
The  placing  of  the  executive  power  in  a  department  is 
in  evident  imitation  of  the  United  States  government,  not 
as  it  was  originated,  but  as  it  came  to  be  through  the 
growth  of  the  cabinet,  a  body  which  is  not  found  in  the 
Constitution,  but  which  was  created  piecemeal  as  need 
arose.  How  close  the  correspondence  is  between  the 
executive  department  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  cabinet 
of  the  United  States  may  be  illustrated  by  comparing  the 
several  officials.  The  Governor,  of  course,  corresponds 
closely  to  the  President,  the  Lieutenant  Governor  to  the 

(1)  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  pro^ddes  (Ai-t.  II, 
See.  1),  ''The  executive  ix)wer  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America."  The  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania  reads 
(Art.  IV,  Sec.  1),  "The  executive  department  of  this  Commonwealth 
shall  consist  of  a  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor,  Secretary  of  the 
Commonwealth,  Attorney  General,  Auditor  General,  State  Treasurer, 
Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs  and  a  Sui>erintondent  of  Public  In- 
struction. ' ' 

(2)  Art.  IV,  Sec.  2.  • 
76 


THE    EXECUTIVE.  77 

Vice  President,  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  to 
the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Attorney  General  to  the  officer 
of  the  same  name,  the  Auditor  General  and  State  Treas- 
urer together  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the 
Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs  to  the  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior. Several  of  the  United  States  cabinet  officers  are 
not  paralleled  in  Pennsylvania;  the  Postmaster  General, 
because  a  State  can  have  no  use  for  such  an  official ;  the 
Secretary  of  Commerce  and  the  Secretary  of  Labor,  be- 
cause the  influences  which  brought  about  the  creation  of 
these  departments  were  not  potent  at  the  time  of  the 
adoption  of  Pennsylvania's  Constitution.  This  lack  was 
supplied  as  far  as  the  Legislature  had  power  by  the  re- 
cent creation  of  the  Department  of  Labor  and  Industry,^ 
the  officer  at  the  head  of  which,  known  as  the  Commis- 
sioner, is  not  of  less  importance  because  his  office  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  Constitution.  The  Secretaries  of  War 
and  of  the  Navy  are  not  paralleled  in  Pennsylvania,  as 
the  State  has  no  standing  army  nor  navy,  but  the  State 
has  an  Adjutant  General  Avho  manages  the  details  of  the 
military  system.^     The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  in  the 

(3)  Act  of  June  2,  1913,  P.  L.  396. 

(4)  The  military'  forces  of  the  Commonwealth  were  reorganized 
to  meet  the  exigencies  of  war  by  Act  May  3,  1917,  P.  L.  .  The 
following  acts  (titles  hei-e  abbreviated)  were  also  adopted  in  view  of 
war  conditions : 

Regulating  number,  etc.  of  employees  in  Adjutant  General's 
Department.    Act  July  18,  1917,  P.  L. 

Authorizing  Cities  of  the  Second  Class  to  pay  salaries  to  em- 
ployees enlisting,  Act  July  16,  1917,  P.  L. 

Authorizing  the  Governor  to  appoint  volunteer  police  officers 
during  war,  Act  July  18,  1917,  P.  L. 

Authorizing  the  State  to  Boitow  Money,  Act  July  11,  1917,  P.  L. 

Creating  a  Commission  of  Public  Safety  and  Defense,  Act  Mav 
15,  1917,  P.  L. 

Providing  for  organization  of  additional  armed  land  force,  Act 
June  22,  1917,  P.  L. 

Providing  that  State  employees  shall  not  lose  position  by  reason 
of  entering  army,  Act  June  7,  1917.  P.  L. 


<^8  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

United  States  Cabinet  also  has  no  parallel  among  the 
officers  of  the  Pennsylvania  Executive  Department 
created  by  the  Constitution,  but  there  has  been  created 
by  statute  an  officer  of  the  same  name  and  with  similar 
functions. 

Notwithstanding  the  close  correspondence  between 
the  Pennsylvania  Executive  Department  and  the  United 
States  Cabinet,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
Executive  Department  is  a  constitutional  creation,  while 
the  Cabinet  is  not,  Pennsylvania's  Department  does  not 
work  as  a  department  and  does  not  resemble  the  Cabinet 
at  all  in  practice.  No  meetings  of  the  Department,  simi- 
lar to  Cabinet  meetings,  are  held,  and  no  official  acts  are 
done  in  the  name  of  the  Department.  The  reason  for 
this  practical  difference  is  to  be  found  partly  in  State 
traditions  which  have  come  down  from  an  earlier  time, 
partly  from  the  fact  that  the  Governor  is  not  confronted 
with  as  many  complex  and  far  reaching  problems  on 
which  advice  is  needed  as  is  the  President,  and  partly 
from  the  fact  that  the  Executive  Department  is  made  up 
of  two  wholly  different  kinds  of  officers,  those  appointed 
by  the  Governor  and  those  elected  by  the  people.  The 
Lieutenant.  Governor,  Auditor  General,  State  Treasurer 
and  Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs  are  elected,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Commonwealth,  Attorney  General  and  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction  are  appointed. 

The  Governor  occupies  a  position  of  real  power.  He 
is  elected  for  four  years  and  may  not  succeed  himself. 
He  appoints  directly  or  indirectly  all  officers  of  the  State, 
except  those  elected  or  receiving  their  appointment  from 
elected  officials,  and  thus  has  the  disposal  of  a  vast  pat- 
ronage.   Those  appointed  by  him  may  be  removed  at  his 

Regailating  the  purchase  of  supplies  by  Cities  of  the  First  Class, 
Act  May  17,  1917,  P.  L. 

Authorizing  Cities  of  the  Second  Class  to  buy  and  sell  necessities 
of  life,  Act  July  19,  1917,  P.  L. 


THE    EXECUTIVE.  79 

pleasure.^  He  can  call  special  sessions  of  the  Legisla- 
ture and  can  veto  any  bill.  The  veto  can  be  over-ridden 
only  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  both  Houses.  He  has  the 
power  to  pardon,  thoup^h  in  this  he  cannot  go  beyond  the 
recommendations  of  the  Pardon  Board.  He  is  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  military  forces  of  the  State,  and 
he  has  powers  and  duties  given  him  by  statutes  too  num- 
erous to  mention. 

The  Governor  receives  a  salary  of  $10,000  a  year,  and 
is  provided  with  an  adequate  mansion  and  with  servants 
to  maintain  it,  but  as  he  can  seldom  cut  off  entirely  home 
expenses  during  his  term,  and  as  there  are  many  unavoid- 
able expenses  of  entertaining  and  otherwise,  the  office  is 
not  considered  a  place  of  profit. 

Next  in  the  Executive  Department  comes  the  Lieu- 
tenant Governor,  the  close  analogue  of  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent. In  the  early  days  when  the  Vice  President  was  the 
person  receiving  the  second  highest  number  of  electoral 
votes,  he  was  sure  to  be  a  man  capable  of  cutting  a  figure 
in  national  life.  This  provision  in  the  Constitution  shows 
how  little  our  fathers  anticipated  the  growth  of  the 
party  system.  They  succeeded  in  doing  what  they  set 
out  to  do,  viz.,  secure  good  vice  presidential  timber,  but 
they  produced  the  unexpected  result  of  automatically  se- 
curing that  the  successor  to  the  President  must  be  of  the 
opposite  party,  and  thus  unable  to  co-operate  with  him 
when  living  or  carry  on  his  policy  after  his  death.  The 
defect  clearly  outweighed  the  benefit  of  the  provision  and 
very  promptly  ^  the  twelfth    amendment   was    adopted, 

(5)  "Apjx)inted  officers,  other  than  judges  of  the  courts  of 
record  and  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  may  be  removed 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  power  by  which  they  shall  have  been  appoint- 
ed."  Const.  Art.  VI,  Sec.  4.  For  a  graphic  presentation  of  the 
relation  of  the  Governor  to  the  other  offices  see  frontispiece. 

(6)  The  Twelfth  Amendment  was  submitted  by  resolution  of 
Consrress,  passed  on  the  12th  of  December,  1803,  and  finally  ratified 
in  1804. 


80  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

which  provided  the  method   of   electing   President    and 
Vice  President  now  in  effect. 

This  amendment  secured  its  purpose  of  providing 
Vice  Presidents  of  the  same  party  as  the  President,  but 
sacrificed  the  advantage  of  the  original  method,  which 
was  that  the  strongest  type  of  man  was  secured.  No 
doubt  it  was  thought  at  the  time  that  the  office  of  Vice 
President  of  the  United  States  was  sufficiently  exalted 
to  attract  the  best  type  of  citizens,  and  that  it  would  be 
the  last  step  in  the  line  of  promotion  through  which  a  pub- 
lic man  might  hope  to  reach  the  presidency.  But  this 
happened  only  once,  in  the  case  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  all 
other  Vice  Presidents  who  became  President  after  1804 
having  done  so  by  reason  of  the  death  of  the  President. 

Having  the  spectacle  of  Andrew  Johnson  fresh  be- 
fore their  eyes,  it  might  have  been  thought  that  the  Con- 
stitution makers  of  Pennsylvania  would  omit  a  Vice  Pres- 
ident and  provide  a  succession  in  some  other  way.  All 
the  functions  of  a  Vice  President  or  Lieutenant  Gover- 
nor could  easily  be  discharged  by  others.  The  Senate 
could  easily  choose  its  own  presiding  officer,  and  any 
other  functionary  might  be  designated  as  the  heir  appar- 
ent. If  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  Gov- 
ernor's own  choice,  were  to  be  the  next  in  line,  we  prob- 
ably should  get  a  better  Secretary  and  have  no  use  for  a 
Lieutenant  Governor.  However,  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention did  not  see  it  in  that  light  and  provided  us  with  a 
Lieutenant  Governor.  This  office  is  the  greatest  sine- 
cure in  the  State  government.  The  salary  is  $5,000  a 
year,  there  are  practically  no  official  expenses,  and  the 
duties  of  the  office  consist  of  little  more  than  presiding 
occasionally  over  the  Senate  (for  the  president  pro  tern. 
is  more  often  in  the  chair)  and  attending  the  meetings 
of  the  Pardon  Board. 

Then  comes  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 
This  functionary  is  the  nearest  approach  we  have  to  a 


THE    EXECUTIVE.  81 

Lord  High  Chancellor,  thoui^h  now  the  office  is  but  a 
shadow  of  its  historic  original.  All  the  judicial  functions 
are  quite  gone  and  all  the  valuable  patronage,  so  that 
our  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  is  hardly  more  than 
Chief  Clerk  of  the  State.  He  countersigns  and  keeps  a 
record  of  the  official  doings  of  the  Governor,  and  pre- 
seivc  s  the  original  of  the  acts  passed  by  the  Legislature 
and  piepares  them  for  publication.  All  the  steps  in 
organizing  business  corporations  or  in  obtaining  the  right 
for  a  foreign  corporation  to  do  business  in  this  State,  go 
through  the  office.  In  analogy  with  the  Secretary  of 
State  in  the  United  States,  he  is  the  channel  of  dealing 
with  other  governments,  but  as  the  LTnited  States  has  full 
charge  of  negotiations  with  foreig-n  countries,  this  func- 
tion of  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  consists  in 
little  more  than  attending  to  the  details  of  extradition 
of  fugitives  from  justice.  Under  the  Constitution  he 
acts  as  one  of  the  Pardon  Board. '^  Another  of  his  con- 
stitutional obligations  is  '*to  perfonn  such  other  duties 
as  may  be  enjoined  upon  him  by  law."  ^  This  seemed  a 
rather  attractive  invitation  to  the  Legislature,  and  they 
wished  on  him  membership  in  the  Sinking  Fund  Commis- 
sion, the  Board  of  Revenue  Commissioners,  the  Board  of 
Property,  the  Board  to  Pass  LTpon  the  Neces- 
sity for  the  Construction  of  Elevated  and  Underground 
Passenger  Railways,  the  Board  to  License  Private  Bank- 
ers, and  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  State  Library.  What 
gives  him  his  dignity,  however,  and  reveals  his  kinship  to 
the  Lord  High  Chancellor  is  that  he  is  Keeper  of  the  Great 
Seal  of  the  Commonwealth.  For  doing  these  things  he 
receives  $8,000  a  year  and  is  under  no  public  compulsion 
to  spend  any  of  it. 

The  mixing  of  elective  and  appointive  officers  exhibits 
a  curious  blending  of  two  theories  of  government,  that  of 

(7)  Const.  Art.  IV,  Sec.  9. 

(8)  Const.  Art.  TV.  Sec.  18. 
6 


82  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  concentration  of  power  and  responsibility,  now  gain- 
ing prestige  under  the  names  ''short  ballot,"  "commis- 
sion form  of  government,"  etc.,  and  the  theory  of  checks 
and  balances,  one  set  of  officers  to  watch  another  set. 

In  the  case  of  the  Auditor  General  and  the  State 
Treasurer,  the  latter  theory  appears  in  its  most  defens- 
ible form,  for  the  handling  of  money  has  always  been 
recognized  as  a  proper  sphere  for  outside  audit  and 
check.  The  Auditor  General  is  the  chief  accounting  and 
settling  officer  of  the  State.  No  bills  are  paid  by  the 
State  except  upon  warrant  issued  by  him,  and  all  State 
taxes  are  settled  by  him.  The  State  Treasurer  is  the 
officer  in  charge  of  the  State's  cash.  He  also  must  be 
satisfied  as  to  the  correctness  of  settlements,  so  there  is 
a  double  check  in  these  matters.  The  reason  for  the  elec- 
tion, rather  than  appointment,  of  the  Secretary  of  In- 
ternal Affairs,  requires  more  explanation.  At  the  time 
of  the  drafting  of  the  present  Constitution  the  people 
were  just  awakening  to  the  enormous  and  increasing 
power  of  the  corporations,  especially  the  rapidly  con- 
solidating railroads.  The  importance  which  was  at- 
tached to  the  control  of  corporations  is  illustrated  by  the 
presence  in  the  Constitution  of  sections  sixteen  and 
seventeen,  the  one  devoted  to  corporations  and  the  other 
to  railroads  and  canals.  These  articles  contain  many 
.restrictive  provisions,  and  as  the  Legislature  was  ex- 
pected to  provide  more  regulation,  the  need  was  felt  for 
a  special  officer  to  represent  the  interests  of  the  public 
against  the  growing  power  of  the  corporations.  Such  a 
tribune  of  the  people,  of  course,  must  be  elected.  Had 
the  Constitution  been  written  at  any  time  after  the  cre- 
ation of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  the  duties 
of  the  Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs  would  have  been 
given  to  a  body  modeled  after  that  commission,  but  as  our 
Constitution  makers  did  not  have  the  benefit  of  the  ex- 
perience of  the  United  States  in  this  respect,  they  fol- 


THE    EXECUTIVE.  83 

lowed  the  older  plan  of  providing  for  a  special  official. 
If  the  public  interest  which  caused  the  provisions  mention- 
ed to  be  included  in  the  Constitution  had  continued  suffi- 
ciently to  insure  the  election  of  a  secretary  who  was  able 
to  measure  up  to  his  responsibilities,  and  of  Legislatures 
who  would  provide  him  with  adequate  statutory  support, 
the  recent  history  of  Pennsylvania  would  have  been  very 
different,  but  timid  administration  and  inadequate  legis- 
lation have  combined  to  reduce  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
Internal  Affairs  to  a  position  of  impotence,  and  when 
there  again  arose  a  demand  for  railroad  regulation,  the 
Department  of  Internal  Affairs  was  completely  ignored 
and  new  agencies  were  created  to  do  this  work.^ 

The  special  interest  for  us  of  this  Department  of  In- 
ternal Affairs  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  is  the  department 
which  seemed  to  be  created  for  the  functions  of  govern- 
ment that  we  call  ''direct  usefulness."  Its  five  bureaus 
all  exhibit  something  of  this  idea.  First,  there  is  the 
Land  Office.  This  is  the  lineal  successor  of  the  Land 
Office  of  early  times  when  great  quantities  of  land  were 
held  by  the  proprietor  or  the  State,  and  when  the  busi- 
ness of  selling  it  to  private  owners  was  very  brisk.-  It 
would  probably  surprise  most  people  to  learn  that  there 
are  still  odds  and  ends  of  land  remaining  in  the  Common- 
wealth for  which  patents  have  never  been  issued,  and  that 
applications  for  such  land  are  constantly  being  made."^ 

The  Bureau  of  Assessment  and  Taxes  collects  statis- 
tics covering  the  amounts  of  assessments  and  rates  of 
taxes  in  the  various  tax  levying  districts  of  the  State. 
As  no  official  action  of  any  kind  whatsoever  is  based 

(9)  ef.  infra.     Public  Service  Commission. 

(10)  "Thirteen  applications  for  vacant  land  were  investigated 
during  the  fiscal  year  just  closed,  ten  of  which  were  accepted  and 
three  refused.  In  addition  to  these,  seven  applications  were  filed 
during  the  year  on  which  investigations  are  still  pending  for  want 
of  necessary  data." 

Report  Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs,  1913,  Part  I. 


84  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

upon  these  statistics,  their  sole  use  is  public  information. 
Unfortunately  the  public  has  not  shown  much  avidity  to 
be  informed  on  this  subject,  though  when  the  time  comes 
for  a  general  renovation  of  the  taxation  laws  of  the  State, 
the  facts  hidden  away  in  the  reports  of  the  Secretary  of 
Internal  Affairs  will  be  of  great  value. 

The  Bureau  of  Industrial  Statistics  is  the  agency  di- 
rectly created  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  State  super- 
vision over  the  corporations  and  their  relations  with  their 
employees.  Much  of  the  output  of  this  bureau  is  statis- 
tics of  the  driest,  but  in  part  it  represents  the  idea  of  a 
State  interested  in  the  welfare  of  its  citizens.^ ^  Never- 
theless, the  popular  judgment  of  this  bureau  is  regis- 
tered in  the  creation  of  the  Department  of  Labor  and 
Industry.^^ 

The  Bureau  of  Railways  collects  a  great  volume  of 
statistics  concerning  railroads,  street  railways,  canal, 
telephone  and  telegraph  lines,  and  these  statistics  have  a 
certain  interest,  but  when  at  last  the  people  determined 
that  public  utilities  should  be  regnilated  it  was  not  to  the 
Bureau  of  Railways  that  they  turned,  but  they  required 
the  creation  of  a  totally  new  agency,  the  Railroad  Com- 
mission,^^ afterwards  expanded  into  the  Public  Service 
Commission.^^ 

The  Bureau  of  Standards  is  a  recent  addition  to  the 
department,^^  and  performs  a  service  of  direct  useful- 
ness, for  in  it  are  preserved  the  standards  of  weights  and 
measures  which  afford  protection  to  the  citizen  against 
the  wiles  of  the  dishonest  tradesman. 

(11)  e.  g.  "The  Industrial  Condition  of  the  Colored  Race," 
Investigation  for  State  Bureau  of  Industrial  Statistics,  by  R.  R. 
Wright,  Jr.,  Ph.  D.,  contained  in  Report  of  Secretary  of  Internal 
Affairs,  1913,  Part  III. 

(12)  cf.  infra. 

(13)  Act  May  31,  1907,  P.  L.  337. 

(14)  Act  July  26th,  1913,  P.  L.  1374. 

(15)  Act  June  23,  1911,  P.  L.  1118. 


THE   EXECUTIVE.  85 

We  have  now  made  some  mention  of  each  member  of 
the  Executive  Department,  except  the  Attorney  General 
and  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  We  need 
not  linger  over  a  description  of  the  office  of  Attorney  Gen- 
eral, for  he  is  simply  the  law  officer  of  the  State  and  his 
duties  are  usually  of  a  technical  nature  far  removed  from 
the  sphere  of  government  of  which  we  have  set  out  to 
write.  On  the  other  hand,  the  duties  of  the  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Instruction  touch  that  sphere  so  closely, 
that  we  must  postpone  a  consideration  of  them  to  a  later 
chapter. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS ^PROFESSIONAL    QUALIFICATION. 

WHEN  democracy  comes  to  clef  end  herself  against 
the  uncongenial  surroundings  of  the  world,  she 
finds  ignorance  her  worst  enemy.  It  is  no  mere 
chance  that  freedom  and  the  university  found  foot- 
hold in  this  country  at  nearly  the  same  time.  The 
great  free  public  school  systems  of  the  different 
States  are  the  logical  outgrowth  of  a  republican 
form  of  government.  We  are  now  so  familiar 
with  the  idea  of  free  public  education  that  we  are 
apt  to  forget  what  a  splendid  example  it  is  of  the  theory 
that  the  State  should  do  something  direct  and  practi- 
cal for  the  welfare  of  its  citizens.  It  is  the  earliest  of  the 
State's  activities  in  this  direction,  and  to-day  it  absorbs 
a  larger  proportion  of  the  State's  revenue  than  any  other 
of  its  activities  outside  of  mere  government.^ 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  State  contributes 
liberally  to  the  public  school  system  and  that  this  system 
is  erected  and  energized  by  State  law,  the  management 
of  the  public  schools  is  almost  entirely  decentralized. 
This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  State  appropriation 
barely  begins  to  meet  all  the  expenses  of  the  public 
schools,  so  that  large  sums  must  be  raised  by  local  taxa- 
tion. As  the  public  school  system  has  expanded  the  State 
has  been  paying  a  larger  and  larger  percentage  of  the 
total  expenditure,  but  the  principle  of  local  control  has 
continued.^ 

(1)  The  appropriation  for  the  two  fiscal  years  beginning  on  the 
first  Monday  of  July,  1917  was  $18,000,000.  General  Appropriation 
Act  1917. 

(2)  The  recently  established  Public  School  Employes'  Retire- 
ment System  is  under  central  management.    Act  July  18,  1917,  P.  L. 

86 


PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  87 

For  a  long  time  the  laws  governing  the  school  system 
of  the  State  were  in  a  chaotic  condition.  The  schools  in 
different  parts  of  the  State  were  organized  in  different 
ways,  and  it  was  hard  to  ascertain  just  what  was  the  law 
upon  many  points  governing  the  school  system.  The  con- 
dition became  so  troublesome  that  the  legislature  author- 
ized the  appointment  of  a  commission  to  prepare  a  code 
to  simplify  and  haraionize  the  whole  law  upon  the  sub- 
ject. The  commissioners  appointed  did  excellent  work, 
and  prepared  a  school  code  which  was  presented  to  the 
session  of  1909.  On  account  of  the  conflicting  ideas  of 
the  various  sections  of  the  State,  the  code  was  passed 
with  great  difficulty,  and  was  vetoed  by  the  Governor; 
but  after  two  more  years  of  agitation  and  education,  a 
code  very  similar  was  enacted.^  This  code  provides  for 
a  State  Board  of  Education  of  six  members,  who,  to- 
gether with  the  constitutional  officer  known  as  the  Su- 
perintendent of  Public  Instruction,  take  care  of  the  State's 
interests  in  the  public  school  system  and  provide  as 
much  central  supervision  as  is  possible  under  the  con- 
ditions of  decentralization  provided  for  throughout  the 
remainder  of  the  code.  The  members  of  the  State  Board 
of  Education  are  appointed  by  the  Grovernor  and  con- 
firmed by  the  Senate.  Three  of  them  are  required  to  be 
successful  educators  of  high  standing  connected  with  the 
public  school  system  of  the  State,  and  the  remainder  are 
appointed  from  the  citizenship  at  large.  They  serve  with- 
out compensation  and  are  empowered  to  inspect  and  re- 
quire reports  not  only  from  the  ordinary  public  school 
system,  but  from  educational  work  in  schools  and  institu- 
tions wholly  or  partly  supported  by  the  State  which  are 
not  already  supervised  by  the  public  school  authorities. 

The  executive  officer  of  the  State  school  system  is  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.     The  code  gives 

(3)    Acti  May  18,  1911,  P.  L.  309.    This  act  will  subsequently  be 
cited  as  the  "School  Code." 


bo  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

him  '^  supervision  of  all  the  public  schools  of  this  Com- 
monwealth," as  well  as  a  number  of  specific  powers  and 
duties.  A  comparison  of  the  powers  of  the  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Instruction  with  those  of  a  local  school 
board  makes  it  evident  that  the  real  power  and  responsi- 
bility lies  with  the  local  board.  The  State  enforces  cer- 
tain minimum  standards  of  length  of  term,  grade  of 
teaching,  etc.,  by  means  of  the  powerful  lever  of  the  State 
appropriation,  but  the  local  school  is  good  or  bad  as  the 
local  board  makes  it. 

For  the  purpose  of  running  the  public  school  system, 
the  State  has  created  a  number  of  municipal  corpora- 
tions,"* called  school  districts.  These  are  divided  into 
four  classes.  The  first  class  consist  of  those  districts 
having  a  population  of  500,000  or  more,  the  second  of 
those  having  a  population  between  30,000  and  500,000,  the 
third  class  those  having  a  population  between  5,000  and 
30,000,  and  the  fourth  class  those  having  a  population  of 
less  than  5,000.  The  organization  of  the  several  kinds 
of  districts  is  proportionate  in  elaboration  to  their  sizes. 

The  scheme  of  classification  brings  both  Philadelphia 
and  Pittsburgh  into  the  same  class.  In  order  to  group 
these  two  cities  into  a  single  class  it  was  necessary  that 
one  or  the  other  of  them  should  learn  to  adapt  themselves 
to  a  totally  new  form  of  organization,  for  the  heterogen- 
eous way  in  which  our  school  system  had  growTi  up  had 
resulted  in  very  different  conditions  in  the  two  cities. 
Philadelphia  had  a  system  where  the  power  was  largely 
centralized  in  the  hands  of  a  Board  of  Education,  whose 
members  were  not  elected,  but  appointed  by  the  Common 
Pleas  judges.  In  the  Pittsburgh  system  the  central  board 
was  elected  and  a  considerable  amount  of  power  was  di- 
vided among  the  several  ward  boards  of  school  directors. 
Much  of  the  difficulty  which  the  school  code  experienced 

(4)  The  nature  of  a  municipal  corporation  is  explained  else- 
where— Chapter  XI,  q.  v. 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  89 

in  its  passage  tlirough  the  Legislature  arose  from  the 
conflict  betAveen  the  champions  of  these  two  systems.  The 
system  provided  by  the  school  code  is  practically  the 
Philadelphia  system.  Much  objection  was  made  by  Pitts- 
burgh interests  to  placing  the  power  of  taxation  in  a 
board  not  elected  by  the  people,  and  it  was  stoutly  main- 
tained that  to  do  so  was  unconstitutional,  but  this  claim 
was  not  supported  by  the  Court. '"^ 

Districts  of  the  first  class  have  a  board  of  fifteen  di- 
rectors appointed  by  the  judges  of  the  Courts  of  Common 
Pleas.  Districts  of  the  second  class  have  nine  directors 
who  are  elected  at  large.  Districts  of  the  third  class  have 
seven  directors  elected  at  large,  and  districts  of  the 
fourth  class  have  five  directors  elected  at  large.  That 
the  real  power  in  the  school  system  lies  in  these  local 
boards  of  school  directors  is  evident  for  they  '*  shall  es- 
tablish, equip,  furnish  and  maintain  a  sufficient  number 
of  elementary  public  schools  *  *  *  to  educate  every  per- 
son residing  in  such  district  between  the  ages  of  six  and 
twenty-one  years  who  may  attend."'' 

The  school  boards  are  also  vested  with  the  power  to 
levy  taxes  and  borrow  money.'^  Since  the  special  view- 
point from  which  we  are  depicting  the  State  has  refer- 
ence to  the  service  it  is  performing  for  its  people,  it  is 
interesting  to  note  how  the  public  school  system  is  de- 
veloping into  an  instrument  of  social  service  undreamed 
of  in  tlie  days  when  to  impart  the  three  R's  was  con- 
sidered the  whole  duty  of  the  public  educator.  A  mere 
catalogue  of  the  kinds  of  schools  the  directors  are  per- 

(5)  Minsinger  vs.  Ran,  236  Pa.  327.  A  case  is  now  (1917)  pend- 
ing in  the  U.  S.  Courts.  The  District  Court.  Western  Dist.  of  Pa., 
held  the  act  constitutional.  Susman  vs.  Board  of  Education,  63 
Pittsburgh  Legal  Journal,  but  an  appeal  to  the  V.  S.  Supreme  Court 
has  been  taken. 

(6)  School  Code,  Art.  IV,  See.  401. 

(7)  School  Code,  Art.  V. 


90  STATE  G0\T;RNMENT  in  PENNSYLVANIA. 

mitted  to  maintain  will  illustrate  this.    These  are,  besides 
the  elementary  schools, 

High  schools, 
Manual  Training  schools, 
Vocational  schools, 
Domestic  science  schools, 
Agricultural  schools, 
Evening  schools, 
Kindergartens, 
Libraries, 
Museums, 
Reading  rooms. 
Gymnasiums, 
PlaygTOunds, 

Schools  for  Blind,  Deaf  and  Mentally  Deficient, 
Truant  schools. 
Parental  schools, 
Schools  for  adults, 

Such  other  schools  and  educational  departments  as  they  in  their 
wisdom  may  see  proper  to  establish. 

The  boards  are  also  empowered  ^  to  permit  the  use  of 
their  school  grounds  and  buildings  for  social  recreation 
and  other  proper  purposes. 

The  advance  in  the  feeling  of  social  responsibility  of 
the  State  towards  its  citizens  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
provisions  of  the  school  code  relating  to  the  health  and 
comfort  of  tlie  children.^  In  every  school  built  in  the 
future,  the  total  light  area  must  equal  at  least  twenty 
per  cent,  of  the  floor  space  and  the  light  must  not  be  ad- 
mitted from  the  front  of  the  seated  pupils,  this  to  pro- 
tect the  children's  eyes.  Every  school  must  have  not 
less  than  fifteen  square  feet  of  floor  space  and  not  less 
than  two  hundred  cubic  feet  of  air  space  for  each  pupil; 
this  for  the  little  lungs.  The  common  or  ordinary  heat- 
ing stove  must  not  be  used  unless  it  is  in  part  enclosed 
within  a  shield  so  placed  as  to  protect  all  pupils  while 
seated  at  their  desks  from   direct   rays    of   heat.     The 


(8)  School  Code,  Art.  VI,  Sec.  627. 

(9)  School  Code.  Sees.  618-625. 


PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  91 

physiological  effects  of  radiant  heat  are  better  under- 
stood now  than  a  generation  ago.  Every  school  room 
must  have  ample  means  of  ventilation  (thirty  cubic  feet 
a  minute)  and  must  have  a  thermometer.  Schools  must 
be  of  fireproof  construction,  doors  must  open  outward 
and  fire  escapes  be  provided. 

The  executives  of  the  school  system  are  the  superin- 
tendents. At  the  head  is  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  a  member  of  the  State  cabinet.  Then  there 
are  County  Superintendents,  District  Superintendents 
and  Assistant  County  and  District  Superintendents.  Al- 
though this  would  seem  to  create  a  hierarchy,  as  a  matter 
of  fact  it  does  not,  because,  on  account  of  the  decentral- 
ized system  of  school  management,  the  County  and  Dis- 
trict Superintendents  are  not  responsible  to  the  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction,  but  to  the  local  school 
boards. 

The  County  Superintendents  are  elected  by  a  conven- 
tion of  the  school  directors  of  the  several  school  districts 
within  each  county.  The  Assistant  County  Superinten- 
dents-are nominated  by  the  County  Superintendents,  and 
confirmed  by  the  officers  of  the  school  directors'  associa- 
tion of  the  county.  Where  a  district  is  large  enough  to 
have  a  superintendent  of  its  own,  the  directors  elect  one, 
but  do  not  take  part  in  the  election  of  a  County  Superin- 
tendent. 

The  State's  growing  sense  of  social  responsibility 
can  also  be  traced  in  its  attitude  towards  the  question  of 
school  attendance.  Originally  education  was  looked  upon 
as  a  boon  offered  to  the  children  of  the  State,  too  precious 
to  be  neglected  by  any  that  could  avail  themselves  of  it. 
Now  the  State  exercises  a  general  parental  authority  and 
requires  that  every  child  between  the  ages  of  eight  and 
sixteen  should  go  to  some  school.  Cliildren  who  have 
learned  to  read  and  write  and  are  at  work  may  leave 
school  at  fourteen. 


92  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Perhaps    the    greatest    extension    of    the     State's 
social  responsibility  is    in    the   medical    inspection  now 
required   in   the   public   schools.     Here   we   are   on   the 
firing  line.     Nothing,  except  theology,  seems  to  arouse 
such  passion  as  medicine,  and  the  fear  of  the  doctor,  es- 
pecially of  the  standard  doctor,  seems  to  be  widespread. 
This  provision  of  the  law  had  a  hard  tussle  to  get  in  and 
the  marks  of  the  conflict  are  still  visible.    The  act  starts 
out  bravely  enough  to  say  that  every  school  district  of 
the  first,  second  and  third  class  must  provide  medical  in- 
spection,^"  and   that   the   State   Department   of   Health 
must  provide  it  for  the  school  districts   of  the  fourth 
class.    However,  when  we  have  mastered  the  several  pro- 
visos we  understand  that  school  districts  of  the  third  and 
fourth  class  are  not  required  to  have  medical  inspection 
if  they  choose  not  to  have  it.     Why  such  a  roundabout 
method?    It  is  evident  that  the  commission  which  drafted 
the  school  code  desired  that  medical  inspection  should  be 
universal,  but  that  the  members  of  the  Legislature  repre- 
senting districts  in  which  are  located  school  districts  of 
the  third  and  fourth  classes  fought  hard  until  they  had 
succeeded  in  forcing  in  the  provisos  which  permit  indi- 
vidual districts  of  these  classes  to  reject  inspection  if 
t;hey  see  fit.     As  a  model  of  legislative  consistency  this 
part  of  the  code  is  not  to  be  admired,  since  it  is  difficult 
to  see  why  a  city  child  should  be  compelled  to  submit  to 
a  medical  inspection  and  a  village  child  be  exempt.    How- 
ever, the  law  as  it  stands  is  a  fairly  accurate  reflection  of 
the  state  of  the  popular  mind.     In  the  rural  districts, 
where  modern  ideas  have  not  so  thoroughly  permeated 
and  where  the  doctors  could  not  be  expected  to  attain 
to  the  experience  of  their  compeers  in  more  thickly  set- 
tled areas,  there  has  ever  seemed  to  be  a  decided  preju- 
dice against  the  medical  profession.     From  these  quar- 

(10)   School  Code,  See.  1501. 


PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  93 

ters  comes  the  chief  opposition  to  compulsory  vaccina- 
tion.ii 

In  school  districts  of  the  first  class  (Philadelphia  and 
Pittsburgh)  the  Board  of  School  Directors  is  known  as 
''The  Board  of  Public  Education."  This  is  adopting  the 
name  familiar  in  Philadelphia.  The  ward  school  direc- 
tors are  known  under  the  code  as  school  visitors.  This 
change  of  name  serves  the  purpose  of  making  it  clear 
that  they  no  longer  have  any  real  power.  This  is  a  con- 
siderable change  for  Philadelphia,  but  revolutionary  for 
Pittsburgh. 

Ever  since  mediaeval  times  the  trend  of  education  has 
been  steadily  toward  the  practical  and  the  useful.  The 
public  schools  have  by  no  means  been  the  last  to  feel 
the  influence  of  this  movement.  A  generation  ago  the 
idea  was  manifested  mainly  in  the  arithmetical  dealings 
with  barrels  of  flour  instead  of  ''units,"  and  such  ques- 
tions as  "How  many  per  cent,  must  a  merchant  raise  his 
goods  in  order  to  reduce  them  ten  per  cent,  and  still  make 
twenty  per  cent.  1 ' '  Then  came  the  manual  training  de- 
partments of  schools,  Avhich  have  done  splendid  work. 
High  Schools  also  for  some  time  have  been  giving  com- 
mercial courses  which  afford  direct  entrance  into  the 
business  world.  The  manual  training  courses  were  origi- 
nally given  rather  for  their  educational  than  their  voca- 
tional effect.  The  new  psychology  was  just  beginning 
to  percolate  into  education,  and  sense  training  was  the 
battle  cry.  To-day  the  shibboleth  is  "Vocational  Edu- 
cation." We  now  have  as  a  legal  definition  of  this  ex- 
pression, "Vocational  education  shall  mean  any  educa- 
tion the  controlling  purpose  of  which  is  to  fit  for  possi- 
ble emploATuent."  ^2  The  State  now  encourages  voca- 
tional education,  and  the  law  from  which  the  definition 


(11)  By  aot  July  17,  1917,  P.  T>.    Any  school  district  may  provide 
for  the  eare  and  treatnit-iit  of  deioctive  eyes  and  teeth  of  the  pujnls. 

(12)  Act  May  1,  1913,  P.  L.  138. 


94  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

was  taken  was  passed  for  creating  the  necessaiy  machin- 
ery. The  machinery  was  increased  in  1915  by  the  cre- 
ation of  the  Bureau  of  Vocational  Education  in  the  De- 
partment of  Public  Education,  comprising  an  Agricul- 
tural and  an  Industrial  Division.^^  The  same  Legisla- 
ture that  created  the  machinery  lubricated  it  with  a  con- 
siderable appropriation.^^ 

The  idea  that  education  should  be  an  aid  to  life,  and 
that  most  children  "will  lead  a  life  of  economic  struggle 
is  at  the  bottom  of  the  movement  for  vocational  educa- 
tion, and  the  logical  working  out  of  this  fundamental 
idea  leads  to  the  arrangement  of  the  school  hours  to  suit 
the  workers.  Evening  classes  are  provided  and  also 
''part  time,  or  continuation  schools."  The  continuation 
school  was  first  brought  into  prominence  in  GeiTuany,  and 
is  now  being  generally  adopted  in  this  country.  It  is 
well  defined  in   the  act.   "  Part  time  or  continuation  class 

shall  mean  a  vocational  class  for  persons 

giving  a  part  of  their  working  time  to  profitable  employ- 
ment, and  receiving  in  the  part  time  school  or  depart- 
ment instruction  supplementary  to  the  practical  work 
carried  on  in  such  employment."  ^^ 

The  State  also  feels  a  responsibility  for  the  quality 
of  the  education  of  those  who  apply  for  licenses  to  prac- 
tice the  various  professions.  Until  recently  very  little 
attention  was  paid  to  the  preliminaiy  education  of  the 
applicant,  but  he  was  passed  if  he  could  scrape  through 
on  the  strictly  technical  requirements.  The  State  has 
now  created  a  subdepartment  of  the  Department  of  Pub- 
lic Education,^''  whose  duty  is  the  "determination,  evalu- 
ation, standardization  and  regulation  of  the  preliminary 


(13)  Act  May  6,  1915,  P.  L.  268. 

(14)  Act  July  25,  1913,  P.  L.  1249.     The  benefits  of  Federal  as- 
sistance -were  accepted  by  Act  July  11,  1917,  P.  L. 

(15)  Act  May  1,  1915,  P.  L.  138. 

(16)  Act  June  19,  1911,  P.  L.  1045. 


PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  95 

education,  both  secondary  and  colleij^iate,  of  those  to  be 
hereafter  admitted  to  the  practice  of  medicine,  dentistry 
and  pharmacy  in  this  Commonwealth";  and  other  work 
along  the  same  lines. 

Recently  the  control  of  licensing  doctors  has  come  un- 
der the  Department  of  Education  through  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Bureau  of  Medical  Education  and  Licensure 
attached  to  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction.^ '  This 
Bureau  consists  of  seven  members,  two  of  whom,  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  and  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Health,  hold  their  positions  ex  officio.  The  re- 
maining five  members  are  appointed  by  the  Governor. 
Tliis  recent  piece  of  legislation  supersedes  the  former 
method  of  having  a  separate  board  for  the  several  schools 
of  medicine.  In  order  to  secure  impartial  treatment  for 
all  schools,  one  member  of  the  bureau  must  be  elected 
from  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
one  from  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  of  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  one  from  the  Eclectic  Medical  So- 
ciety of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  it  is  further  pro- 
vided that  the  two  remaining  shall  not  be  of  the  same 
school  of  practice.  The  great  advance  marked  by  this 
single  board  system  of  medical  licensure  over  the  previ- 
ous system  of  separate  boards  is  the  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  a  great  part  of  modern  medicine  rests  upon  a 
thoroughly  scientific  basis  and  cannot  be  made  the  ground 
for  division  into  schools.  Thus  the  examinations  include 
the  subjects  of  anatomy,  physiology,  chemistry  as  ap- 
plied to  medicine,  hygiene  and  preventive  medicine,  path- 
ology as  applied  to  medicine,  bacteriology-,  symptoma- 
tolog}%  diagnosis,  surgery,  gynecology,  practice  and  ma- 
teria medica  and  therapeutics,  and  only  in  the  subjects 
of  practice,  materia  medica  and  therapeutics,  is  it  pro- 
vided that  the  examination  shall  be  given  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  bureau  of  the  snive  school  as  the  applicant. 

(17)   Act  June  3,  1911,  P.  L.  639. 


96  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Thus,  in  the  eye  of  the  law  at  least,  the  several  medical 
schools  shrink  into  a  single  body  of  scientifically  equipped 
physicians,  who  differ  merely  on  the  subjects  of  practice, 
materia  medica  and  therapeutics.  Perhaps  an  excep- 
tion to  this  general  statement  ought  to  be  made  in  the 
case  of  osteopaths,  who  have  an  examining  board  of  their 
own.^^  Whether  osteopathy  constitutes  an  exception 
would  depend  on  whether  it  is  a  school  of  medicine,  since 
the  act  creating  the  examining  board  carefully  refrains 
from  saying  anything  about  medicine.  It  is  probable 
that  the  osteopaths  do  not  consider  that  their  art  is  a 
branch  of  medical  practice,  but  that  it  is  something  stii 
generis,  namely,  osteopathy.  For  a  number  of  years 
osteopaths  had  a  hard  struggle  for  recognition.  Until 
they  had  their  own  board  the  graduates  of  their  colleges 
could  not  get  a  license  to  practice.  From  a  legislative 
point  of  view  it  is  a  little  difficult  to  know  where  to  draw 
the  line  in  the  matter  of  creating  examining  boards  for 
the  purpose  of  licensing  people  to  practice  something 
which  is  not  medicine  but  wdiich  professes  to  make  peo- 
ple well  of  their  diseases.  About  the  same  time  that  the 
osteopaths  received  recognition  a  bill  was  introduced  to 
provide  a  separate  board  for  naturepaths,  and  there  are 
other  somewhat  similar  schools  w^ho  would  like  to  be  rec- 
ognized with  a  separate  board.  It  would  seem  wiser  in  the 
long  run  to  require  everybody  who  desires  a  State  li- 
cense permitting  him  to  make  a  profession  of  healing,  to 
know  the  standard  fundamentals  of  scientific  medicine 
and  then  to  permit  him  to  add  anything  he  sees  fit  and 
call  himself  by  whatever  name  he  finds  most  satis- 
factory. There  is  far  too  much  danger  of  a  new  and 
strange  sounding  title  hiding  deficiency  of  actual  knowl- 
edge. 

On  the  border  line  is  the  science  of  optometry.     The 

(18)  Act  March  19,  1909,  P.  L.  46.    Act  April  28,  1915,  P.  L.  195. 
Act  Jnne  1,  1915,  P.  L.  687.     Act  May  17,  1917,  P.  L. 


PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.  97 

optometrists  prescribe  glasses  for  defective  vision,  and, 
to  do  so,  measure  the  refractive  condition  of  the  eye 
without  tlie  use  of  drugs.  Pliysicians  usually  claim  that 
this  is  solely  the  province  of  the  oculists,  and  the  Bureau 
of  Medical  Licensure  at  one  time  attempted  to  bring 
optometrists  under  its  jurisdiction.  After  considerable 
contention,  a  law  was  passed  regulating  the  practice  of 
optometry  and  creating  a  board  of  Optometrical  Edu- 
cation, Examination  and  Licensure.^'' 

The  matter  of  State  supervision  of  the  qualifications 
of  those  holding  themselves  out  as  competent  to  prac- 
tice professions  is  especially  interesting  from  the  point 
of  view  of  this  book.  Admission  to  the  bar  has  always 
been  under  the  control  of  the  several  courts,  but  as  the 
members  of  the  legal  profession  are  in  fact  officers  of 
the  court,  and  the  court  is  part  of  the  government,  such 
public  regulation  of  the  qualifications  of  the  members  of 
the  bar  does  not  transcend  a  purely  governmental  func- 
tion. Now,  however,  the  principle  of  public  certification 
to  competency  is  greatly  extended,  and  it  may  cause  sur- 
prise to  learn  of  the  number  of  trades  and  professions 
which  cannot  be  practiced  without  a  public  certificate. 
There  is  medicine,  as  already  described,  and  the  allied 
profession  of  dentistry.-"  Regulated  also  is  the  profes- 
sion of  pharmacy."^  A  xjrofession  closely  related  to 
those  of  the  healing  arts,  that  of  the  undertakers,  is  also 
regulated  by  the  State.--  Trained  nurses  are  now  subject 
to  special  State  regulations.-^  The  State  Board  of  Ex- 
aminers for  Registration  of  Nurses  is  composed 
of  five  members,  three  physicians  and  two  nurses. 
Applicants     having    had     the     required     training     and 

(19)  Act  March  30,  1917,  P.  L. 

(20)  Act  May  7,  1907,  P.  L.  161. 

(21)  Act  May  17,  1917,  P.  L. 

(22)  Act  June  7,  1895,  P.  L.  167. 

(23)  Act  May  1,  1909,  P.  L.  321.     Act  June  4,  1915,  P.  L.  809. 
7 


98  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

passing  the  required  examination  are  entitled  to 
style  themselves  R.  N.,  or  Registered  Nurse.  Nursing  by- 
others  is  not  forbidden,  but  it  is  unlawful  for  anyone 
to  use  the  title  unless  they  have  lawfully  acquired  it. 
Veterinary  doctors  are  likewise  licensed.-^  However,  it 
does  not  appear  that  there  are  different  schools  of  horse 
doctoring. 

Public  accountants  are  subject  to  State  regis- 
tration.-"' 

''Certified  public  accountant"  is  the  title  those  are 
permitted  to  assume  who  have  shown  the  required  fitness. 
Attempts  have  been  made  to  have  civil  engineers  sub- 
ject to  State  regulation,  as  well  as  architects,  and  per- 
sistent attempts  have  been  made  to  require  barbers  to 
pass  a  State  examination  and  take  out  a  license.  Plum- 
bers are  licensed  by  the  several  cities.  Mine  foremen 
also  are  required  to  pass  examinations,  but  this  comes 
rather  under  provisions  for  public  safety  than  as  a  cer- 
tification of  fitness  to  practice  a  profession  or  trade. 

All  these  instances  are  simply  cases  w^here  the  State 
is  using  its  power  to  protect  its  citizens. 


(24)  Act  May  5,  1915,  P.  L.  248. 

(25)  Act  March  29,  1899,  P.  L.  21.    Act  June  4,  1915,  P.  L.  839. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  HELPING  HAND  OF  THE  STATE. 

IN  Pennsylvania  wild  experiments  in  government  do 
not  find  ready  welcome,  and  the  testing  of  strange 

doctrines  is  usually  left  to  other  communities.  There- 
fore it  is  doubly  interesting  to  note  the  steady  advance 
that  has  taken  place  in  the  amount  of  direct  assistance 
which  the  State  extends  to  its  citizens.  That  a  govern- 
ment should  do  more  for  its  people  than  merely  keep 
them  in  order  is  indeed  suggested  in  the  Constitution.  At 
the  time  of  its  adoption  the  public  school  had  become  a 
definitely  accepted  responsibility  of  government.  The 
special  advance  made  by  the  present  Constitution  in  the 
direction  of  State  service  was  the  creation  of  the  De- 
partment of  Internal  Affairs,  though  this  path  led  to  a 
dead  end,  as  we  have  shown.  Since  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  the  Legislature  has  been  busily  at  work 
developing  the  idea  of  State  usefulness,  until  now  there 
is  a  complex  of  State  agencies  whose  duty  it  is  to  ex- 
tend the  helping  hand  of  the  State  to  its  individual  citi- 
zens. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  trace  the  history  of  this 
development  and  observe  the  creation  of  each  new 
agency  and  the  addition  of  each  new  power,  but  the  plan 
of  this  book  requires  that  we  should  confine  ourselves 
to  a  description  of  the  finished  product,  the  machinery  of 
the  State  government  now  existing  for  the  purpose  of 
State  helpfulness. 

Such  machinery  may  be  divided  into  three  groups. 
The  first  includes  those  departments  which  are  busied 
in  lending  assistance  in  business  matters,  protecting 
against  business  abuses  and  furnishing  information ;  the 

99 


100  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

second  group  is  charged  with  the  preservation  of  the 
State  resources  and  making  them  available  for  the  use 
of  the  people;  while  the  third  group  takes  care  of  the 
very  person  of  the  citizen  in  all  its  parts,  physical  and 
moral.  If  we  bear  in  mind  that  these  distinctions  are 
not  absolute,  that  any  one  agency  may  help  in  any  of 
these  ways  or  all,  we  will  find  this  grouping  of  assist- 
ance toward  an  understanding  of  the  State's  activities 
in  this  general  field. 

One  of  the  most  pervasive  types  of  business  is  insur- 
ance, whether  against  fire  or  death  or  other  calamity. 
As  every  mortal  is  sure  of  death  and  in  danger  of  every 
other  accident,  the  need  of  insurance  is  universal.  The 
greater  the  need,  the  more  sacred  is  the  fund  which  is 
accumulated  as  a  protection  against  it.  The  insurance 
business  is  the  field  of  fierce  competition,  and  has  not 
been  without  its  scandals  and  disgraces,  as  was  strik- 
ingly brought  to  public  attention  by  the  investigation  by 
Justice  Hughes  before  his  elevation  to  the  Supreme 
Bench  of  the  United  States.  Every  State  has  a  body  of 
law  regulating  the  business  of  insurance,  designed  to 
protect  the  citizen  from  loss  incident  to  improper  ad- 
ministration of  the  funds  and  from  the  effects  of  various 
improper  practices  that  grow  up  from  time  to  time  as 
a  result  of  competition.  To  enforce  these  laws  there  is 
usually  provision  for  some  kind  of  special  official.  In 
Pennsylvania  this  duty  is  entrusted  to  the  Insurance  De- 
partment,^ the  head  of  which  is  the  Insurance  Commis- 
sioner. He  is  appointed  by  the  Governor  for  a  term  of 
four  years,  and  must  be  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  The 
law  requires  that  every  insurance  company  shall  make 
annual  report  to  the  Insurance  Commissioner.  His  an- 
nual report  contains  a  condensation  of  the  various  re- 
ports submitted  to  him,  and  furnishes  a  ready  means  of 

(1)   The  Insurance  Department  was  established  by  Aet  April  4, 
1873,  P.  L.  20,  and  reorganized  by  Act  June  1,  1911,  P.  L.  607. 


HELPING  HAND  OF  THE  STATE.  101 

information  for  persons  interested  in  knowing  the  con- 
dition of  any  particular  company. 

In  connection  with  the  question  of  insurance,  mention 
should  be  made  of  the  State  Fire  Marshal,-  a  new  offic- 
ial. He  is  charged  \vith  the  duty  of  investigating  the 
origin  of  fires  and  ferreting  out  incendiarism,  and  in 
forcing  the  correction  of  conditions  likely  to  breed  fires. 
His  office  is  organized  with  a  Chief  Assistant  Fire  Mar- 
shal, a  First  Deputy,  Second  Deputy,  six  plain  deputies 
and  seven  assistants  to  the  plain  deputies,  as  well  as 
clerks  and  stenographers.  The  chiefs  of  the  fire  depart- 
ments of  the  various  municipalities  and  the  presidents 
or  chairmen  of  the  boards  of  supervisors  of  the  to^vnships 
are  also,  by  virtue  of  their  offices,  assistants  to  the  State 
Fire  Marshal. 

Very  similar  to  the  Insurance  Department  is  the 
Banking  Department,^  which  watches  over  the  money  of 
the  people  entrusted  to  financial  institutions.  Of  course, 
the  national  banks  are  beyond  his  jurisdiction,  but  all 
banks  doing  business  under  a  charter  from  the  State,  as 
well  as  trust  companies,  and  all  private  banks,  are  under 
his  care.  While  the  Banking  Department  cannot  abso- 
lutely prevent  the  failure  of  financial  institutions,  the 
steady  pressure  of  its  examinations  and  criticisms,  and 
the  occasional  exercise  of  its  more  drastic  powers  have 
done  wonders  in  preserving  the  stability  of  our  banking 
business.  Of  especial  value  has  been  its  fostering  care 
of  the  building  and  loan  associations.  These  powerful 
instruments  of  co-operative  saving  were  introduced  from 
England  in  early  times,  took  root  first  in  Pennsylvania 
soil,  and  have  flourished  here  mightily.  Their  success  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  they  appeal  to  the  soundest  instincts 
of    humanity    and    that    their    machinery    is    skillfully 

(2)  Act  June  3,  1911,  P.  L.  658. 

(3)  Created  by  Act  June  8,  1891,  P.  L.  217  and  strenjrthened  by 
Act  February  11,  1895,  P.  T..  4. 


102  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

adapted  to  the  psy ecology  of  the  people  who  are  their 
patrons.  Each  member  is  required  to  make  a  payment 
every  month  on  account  of  his  subscription  to  stock  under 
compulsion  of  a  relatively  heavy  fine.  The  money  paid 
in  is  loaned  each  month  to  the  member  bidding  the  high- 
est premium,  and  he  is  required  to  give  real  estate  secur- 
ity therefor,  probably  the  house  which  the  loan  enables 
him  to  buy.  On  this  loan  he  pays  interest,  also  monthly. 
The  fines,  premiums  and  interest  all  go  into  the  funds  to 
be  loaned,  so  that  they  are  compounded  over  and  over, 
and  the  net  result  is  a  profit  far  beyond  that  which  can 
ordinarily  be  obtained  from  investments  so  completely 
secured.  Thus  the  twofold  benefit  is  obtained  of  a  safe 
and  remunerative  investment  for  regular  savings,  and  a 
source  of  supply  for  borrowings  in  home  buying  which 
is  more  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  average  person  than 
are  the  greater  financial  institutions.  The  State  has  long 
recognized  the  social  utility  of  the  building  and  loan  as- 
sociations and  has  fostered  them  by  exemption  from  tax- 
ation. They  are  the  special  wards  of  the  Banking  De- 
partment, which  examines  them  at  intervals  without  no- 
tice. This  examination,  together  with  the  cautious  man- 
agement which  usually  characterizes  the  associations,  has 
made  them  safe  and  failure  is  rare.^ 

Another  business  which  the  State  particularly  fos- 
ters is  the  fundamental  industry  of  agriculture,  which 
is  of  great  importance  in  Pennsylvania,  notwithstanding 
the  State's  reputation  for  mining  and  manufacturing. 
The  prosperity  of  this  large  industry  is  of  peculiar  in- 
terest to  the  State  because  the  price  of  the  necessaries 
of  life  for  every  citizen  is  largly  controlled  by  the  amount 
of  agricultural  production.  Another  reason  for  the 
State's  interesting  itself  in  agriculture  is  the  fact  that  the 


(4)  The  total  assets  of  the  Building  and  Loan  Associations  in 
the  State  now  (1917)  amount  to  over  three  hundred  million  dollars. 
cf.  Report  of  the  Banking  Commissioner  for  1916. 


HELPING  HAND  OF  THE  STATE.  103 

business  can  be  advanced  by  discoveries  and  experiments 
which  are  impossible  for  the  various  farmers  to  make 
for  themselves.  Through  the  dissemination  of  sucli  in- 
foraiation  the  indi\'idual  farmers  are  able  to  compete 
with  capitalistic  combinations,  and  to  maintain  their  in- 
dependence. 

For  fostering  farm  production  the  State  has  created 
the  Commission  of  Agriculture.^  The  chief  officer  is  the 
Secretary  of  Agriculture,  holding  his  commission  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  Governor. 

The  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  is  called  the  Statistician.  His  work 
is  of  assistance  to  all  the  other  bureaus  and  to  the  public 
generally  in  gathering  and  compiling  information. 

The  Dairy  and  Food  Bureau  has  charge  of  the  en- 
forcement of  the  pure  food  laws.  These  are  of  personal 
importance  to  the  individual  citizen,  because  they  involve 
health  and  life  itself,  yet  on  account  of  the  technical  skill 
needed  in  securing  evidence  of  violations,  the  enforce- 
ment of  these  acts  cannot  be  left  to  the  injured  party  as 
is  usually  done  with  other  penal  laws.  Pennsylvania  citi- 
zens are  now  protected  by  the  federal  pure  food  laws, 
which  govern  interstate  shipments,  as  well  as  by  the 
State  pure  food  laws. 

The  Bureau  of  Economic  Zoology  has  charge  of  a  de- 
partment where  tlie  advantage  of  the  power  of  the  State 
exercised  for  the  assistance  of  the  individual  is  particu- 
larly apparent.  The  depredations  of  the  abounding  insect 
life  are  astonishing,  and  were  there  no  checks  on  its 
multiplication,  the  world  would  soon  be  devoid  of  other 
life.  Not  only  do  the  well  known  insect  pests  need  con- 
tinual watching  and  destruction,  but  new  and  strange  dis- 
eases frequently  appear  which,  on  expert  examination, 
prove  to  be  the  result  of  the  activities  of  some  hitherto 
unknown  parasite.    Before  such  a  visitation  the  individ- 

(5)   Act  M^y  18.  1915.  P.  L.  541. 


104  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ual  farmer  would  stand  helpless,  but  with  the  expert 
knowledge  of  the  State  Economic  Zoologist  at  his  ser- 
vice he  is  put  in  possession  of  every  known  means  of  de- 
fense. The  Economic  Zoologist  has  charge  of  the  en- 
forcement of  the  laws  regarding  the  inspection  of  nursery- 
stock  for  insect  pests  and  plant  diseases,  and  enforces 
the  act  providing  for  the  inspection  of  apiaries  and  for 
the  suppression  of  contagious  and  infectious  diseases 
among  bees. 

The  Bureau  of  Chemistry  places  at  the  disposal  of 
the  department  the  expert  chemical  knowledge  which  is 
necessary  in  nearly  all  its  work. 

The  Division  of  Veterinary  Science  supplies  the 
knowledge  and  service  necessary  in  the  barnyard  depart- 
ment of  the  farmers'  work.  The  State  Veterinarian  is 
at  the  head  of  this  division. 

Beyond  what  the  State  is  doing  for  the  farmers,  as 
just  described,  a  recent  act  ^  has  extended  the  idea  of 
direct  State  helpfulness  probably  farther  than  ever  be- 
fore in  this  State.  Under  its  provisions  the  Secretary 
of  Agriculture  appoints  ten  '' special  instructors  in  the 
science  of  agriculture  and  demonstrators  of  approved 
agricultural  methods."  These  instructors  are  located  at 
different  points  throughout  the  State  so  that  no  fanner 
is  any  great  distance  away  from  one.  If  things  now  go 
wrong  with  a  farmer  and  he  fails  to  get  the  results  he 
should,  instead  of  puzzling  over  books  or  written  replies 
from  the  department,  he  can  have  the  instructor  look 
over  his  farm  and  tell  him  what  is  the  matter.  It  is  sig- 
nificant of  the  trend  of  the  times  that  one  of  the  instruc- 
tors appointed  was  a  woman,  who  was  directed  to  take  up 
the  subject  of  home  sanitation  and  household  economics. 

A  recent  addition  to  the  machinery  of  the  Department 
of  Agriculture  is  the  Bureau  of  Markets.'^ 

(6)  May  14,  1913,  P.  L.  203. 

(7)  Aet  July  17,  1917,  P.  L. 


HELPING  HAND  OF  THE  STATE,  105 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  also  holds  farmers' 
institutes  from  time  to  time.  These  are  gatherings  of 
farmers  for  mutual  instruction  and  are  under  the  special 
direction  of  the  Deputy  Secretary  of  Agriculture. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  with  its  various  bur- 
eaus is  by  no  means  all  the  machinery  of  the  State  for 
the  benefit  of  the  farmers.  In  addition  there  are  the 
State  Livestock  Sanitary  Board  and  the  extensive  agri- 
cultural work  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College.  The 
State  Livestock  Sanitary  Board  is  officered  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture  and  his  bureau  chiefs,  and  it  is  not 
easy  to  understand  why  a  separate  board  distinct  from 
the  department,  was  created.  However,  the  State  Live- 
stock Sanitary  Board  is  a  distinct  entity  and  is  highly 
organized.  It  has  a  president,  vice-president,  treasurer, 
secretary  and  assistant  secretary  and  a  clerical  force;  a 
meat  hygiene  division  with  a  director  and  ten  agents ;  a 
horse  breeding  division  with  a  director  and  assistant;  a 
division  of  transmissible  diseases  with  a  director;  a  di- 
vision of  milk  hygiene  with  a  director ;  a  laboratory  with 
a  director  and  eight  assistants  and  a  milk  hygiene  labora- 
tory with  a  director  and  associate;  an  auditing  division, 
two  agents  in  charge  of  substations,  a  farm  fore- 
man, and  seventeen  field  agents.  This  board  is 
charged  with  the  duty  of  preventing  animal  epidemics, 
and  frequently,  when  the  foot  and  mouth  disease  or  other 
epidemic  is  abroad,  it  has  a  difficult  task.  Tlie  Board 
has  power  to  condemn  and  kill  infected  livestock  (for 
which  the  State  reimburses  the  owner)  and  to  regulate 
conditions  generally  which  bear  on  the  transmission  of 
animal  disease. 

As  a  connecting  link  between  the  farmers  and  the 
State,  there  has  been  created  the  State  board  of  Agricul- 
ture.^ Its  members  are  of  five  classes:  (1)  Those  who 
are  members  ex  officio,  consisting  of  the  Governor,  Secre- 
(8)    Act  May  8,  1876,  P.  L.  129. 


106  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

tary  of  Internal  Affairs,  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction, President  of  State  College,  Auditor  General 
and  Secretary  of  Agriculture;  (2)  two  members  appoint- 
ed by  the  Governor;  (3)  one  member  appointed  by  the 
Pennsylvania  State  Poultry  Society;  (4)  one  mem- 
ber appointed  by  the  Pennsylvania  Bee  Keepers'  Asso- 
ciation; and  (5)  one  member  appointed  by  each  of  the 
County  Agricultural  Associations.  Seventeen  consult- 
ing specialists  in  as  many  different  subjects  are  con- 
nected with  the  Board.  Such  a  large  body,  of  course, 
cannot  meet  frequently  nor  be  an  executive  body,  but  it 
serves  to  gather  and  disseminate  much  necessary  infor- 
mation and  to  keep  the  resources  of  the  State  constantly 
at  the  service  of  the  farmer. 

We  are  all  interested  in  the  success  of  the  farmer  be- 
cause we  live  upon  his  products,  but  there  are  other  busi- 
ness enterprises  of  widespread  public  interest  and  these, 
too,  are  watched  over  by  the  State.  One  of  the  most 
striking  changes  which  the  advancing  invention  and  in- 
creasing population  have  wrought  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury is  the  now  almost  total  dependence  of  the  people 
upon  public  service  corporations.  Where  once  people  drew 
their  water  from  wells  they  now  obtain  it  from  a  water 
corporation,  public  or  private.  Where  once  they  drove 
in  a  private  wagon  or  carriage  now  they  ride  and  have 
their  goods  transported  in  a  railway.  Where  once  they 
wrote  a  note  now  they  telephone.  Where  once  they  lit 
a  candle  now  they  turn  on  the  gas  or  electricity.  The 
distinguishing  characteristic  of  public  service  corpora- 
tions is  that  they  must  have  a  monopoly.  Competition 
has  been  tried  and  has  proved  a  failure.  Costly  duplica- 
tions of  plant  result  in  no  advantage  to  the  consumer, 
except  through  reduction  of  rates  brought  about  by  cut- 
throat rate  wars,  and  these  alw^ays  end  either  in  a  res- 
toration of  the  rate  or  in  the  consolidation  of  the  com- 
panies and  the  consequent  effort  to  recoup  from  the  peo- 


HELPING  HAND  OF  THE  STATE.  107 

pie  all  that  had  been  given  them  in  the  time  of  competi- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  however,  before  unregulated 
monopoly  the  individual  citizen  is  helpless.  No  matter 
what  the  law  might  be,  no  private  citizen  could  afford  to 
pursue  a  public  service  company  through  the  maze  of  liti- 
gation that  would  be  required  to  enforce  his  riglits  in 
the  matter  of  rates,  and  more  particularly  in  the  matter 
of  standards  of  service.  Therefore  the  people  need  some 
strong  protagonist,  armed  not  only  with  power  but  also 
with  skill  to  investigate,  with  wisdom  to  understand,  with 
firamess  to  enforce  and  with  restraint  not  to  oppress. 
Such  a  protagonist  the  Public  Service  Commission  is  in- 
tended to  be.  The  idea  did  not  originate  in  Pennsylvania. 
Massachusetts  set  the  fashion  with  a  Railway  Commis- 
sion, which,  however,  had  little  power  except  to  investi- 
gate. The  great  example  is  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  of  the  United  States.  Since  so  much  of 
the  traffic  of  the  country  is  interstate,  the  United  States 
Commission  has  jurisdiction  over  a  large  part  of  the 
railroad  business  in  the  United  States.  Still  there  is 
enough  railroad  business  that  is  purely  within  the  bounds 
of  the  State  to  make  State  regulation  necessary.  Many 
States  had  railroad  commissions  before  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  first  step  here  was  taken  in  1907  when  the  Rail- 
road Commission  was  inaugurated."  This  body  had 
hardly  time  to  prove  what  it  could  do  before  the  rising 
tide  of  demand  for  more  State  activity,  characteristic  of 
the  year  1912,  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Pub- 
lic Service  Commission. ^^  The  Public  Ser^dce  Com- 
mission is  a  body  of  similar  nature  to  the  Railroad  Com- 
mission which  it  displaced,  but  of  vastly  greater  scope. 
As  its  name  implies,  it  has  control  not  only  over  rail- 
ways, or  other  common  carriers,  but  also  over  all  forms 
of  public  serA^^ice  corporations.    It  consists  of  seven  com- 

(9)  Act  May  31,  1907,  P.  L.  337. 

(10)  Act  July  26,  1913.  P.  L.  1374. 


108  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

missioners,  appointed  for  ten  years,  with  their  terms  so 
arranged  that  the  term  of  but  one  member  expires  in  any 
one  year.  Thus  the  commission  could  not  be  packed  sud- 
denly for  a  particular  purpose.  One  of  the  commission- 
ers is  designated  by  the  Governor  as  the  Chairman.  The 
Attorney  General  is  ex-officio  the  general  counsel  of  the 
commission,  but  he  appoints  two  lawyers  as  counsel  and 
assistant  counsel  who  do  the  active  legal  work.  The 
Commission  itself  appoints  a  secretary,  an  investigator 
of  accidents  and  a  marshal  and  other  assistants,  its  carte 
blanche  in  this  direction,  of  course,  being  controlled  by 
the  amount  of  the  appropriation  at  its  disposal. 

An  administrative  commission  is  a  body  that  is  some- 
what anomalous  in  our  ways  of  doing  things.  It  is  not 
a  court,  but  it  acts  in  many  ways  like  one,  for  it  has  hear- 
ings, decides  questions  of  fact,  and  makes  decisions,  yet 
these  decisions  are  not  judgments,  and  if  they  transgress 
any  law  or  are  confiscatory  in  effect,  they  can  be  upset 
by  a  court.  It  differs  most  from  a  court  in  that  it  is 
active  itself  in  the  matters  before  it.  The  Commission 
is  the  State  in  the  act  of  regulating  the  service  corpora- 
tions and  it  does  not  at  all  confine  itself  to  deciding 
between  litigants,  as  does  a  court,  but  itself  moves  to 
find  out  what  is  wrong  and  to  make  it  right.  The  act 
creating  the  Commission  and  regulating  the  public  ser- 
vice corporations  is  very  broad  and  inclusive  and  vests 
ample  power  in  the  Commission.  If,  hereafter,  these  cor- 
porations are  not  effectively  regulated,  it  will  be  the  fault 
of  the  personnel  of  the  Commission  rather  than  of  the 
legislation  under  which  they  act. 

The  second  of  the  groups  into  which  we  have  divided 
the  helpful  activities  of  the  State  is  that  which  has  to 
do  with  conservation.  In  the  past,  Pennsylvania's  rich 
resources  have  been  ruthlessly  exploited  with  little 
thought  for  the  people  who  were  to  come  after.  It  is 
a  melancholy  sight  when  traveling  through  the  mountain 


HELPING  HAND  OF  THE  STATE.  109 

regions  of  the  State  to  view  the  millions  of  acres  of  bar- 
ren slopes  where  once  the  patriarchal  pine  and  hemlock 
held  undisputed  sway.     Only    gradually    did    Pennsyl- 
vania awake  to  the  necessity  of  preserving  its  timber 
wealth,   though   in  comparison  to   other   States   it   was 
early  in  the  field.    The  first  tentative  step,  taken  in  1893, 
was  the  creation  of  a  Forestry  Commission.^ ^     Out  of 
this  grew  the  Division  of  Forestry  in  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,^-  and  finally  the  work  came  to  be  considered 
of  sufiicient  importance  to  warrant  the  establishment  of 
a  department  all  to  itself.^ ^     The  department  is  organ- 
ized with  a  Commissioner  at  the  head,  a  Deputy  Commis- 
sioner and  a  clerical  force.    Associated  with  the  depart- 
ment, and  together  with  the  Commissioner  of  Forestry 
fonning   the    State   Forestiy   Reservation    Commission, 
are  four  citizens  appointed  by  the  Governor.    These  four 
members  are  not  paid  for  their  services.     The  larger 
questions  of  forest  conservation  are  decided  by  the  Com- 
mission, and  the  detail  management  and  execution   of 
these  plans  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Commissioner  of  For- 
estry.   Under  the  supervision  of  the  Department  of  For- 
estry the  State  has  entered  into  an  extensive  scheme  of 
forest  preservation.     Waste  land  has  been  steadily  ac- 
quired until  the  total  area  so  dedicated  to  forestry  re- 
serve amounts  to  about  a  million  acres.     This  land  is 
reforested  by  protecting  natural  growth,^"*  and  by  set- 
ting out  seedling  trees.    The  Department  maintains  nur- 
series for  the  growing  of  seedlings  and  will  distribute 
these  young  trees,  under  proper  regulation,  to  those  who 

(11)  Act  May  23,  1893,  P.  L.  115. 

(12)  Act  March  13,  1895,  P.  L.  17. 

(13)  Act  February  25,  1901,  P.  L.  11. 

(14)  The  great  problem  in  forestry  work  is  the  protection  of 
the  forest  area  against  fire.  The  lesrislature  had  recogmized  this  by 
creating  a  Bureau  of  Forest  Protection  in  the  Department  of  Forestry 
with  wide  powers.     Act  June  3,  1915,  P.  L.  797. 


110  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

will  plant  and  take  care  of  them.  Another  way  in  which 
the  State  will  assist  the  private  tree  owners  directly  is 
to  send  district  foresters  who  will  assist  them  in  the  care 
of  small  areas  of  woodland,  including  shade  and  orna- 
mental trees. 

One  of  the  conditions  which  for  many  years  tended 
to  prevent  private  reforestation  was  the  custom  of 
assessing  forest  land  for  taxation  on  the  basis  of  its  tim- 
ber value.  Thus,  if  a  man  planted  trees  for  cutting  fifty 
years  hence,  he  would  have  to  pay  increasing  taxes  dur- 
ing the  whole  time  he  was  waiting  for  the  profit.  Human 
nature  is  hardly  equal  to  this,  so  the  natural  consequence 
followed.  Either  the  timber  was  cut  when  immature,  or 
the  land  left  untended,  a  prey  to  axe  and  fire.  This  con- 
dition was  remedied  in  1913  when  the  group  of  Auxiliary 
Forest  Reserve  laws  was  passed.^ ^  Under  these  laws 
forest  lands  in  private  possession  can  be  classified  as  aux- 
iliary forest  reserves.  Thus  they  are  brought  under  the 
care  of  the  department  to  a  certain  extent,  but  the  most 
important  effect  is  to  postpone  taxation  upon  them  until 
the  timber  is  harvested.  In  order  to  prevent  hardship 
to  to\\Tiships  and  school  districts  within  which  auxiliary 
forest  reserves  may  be  located,  a  special  charge  of  two 
cents  an  acre  for  the  benefit  of  schools  and  two  cents  for 
roads  is  placed  on  these  reserves  and  is  paid  by  the  State, 
as  is  also  done  in  the  case  of  the  regular  forest  reserves. 

Another  provision  for  enlarging  the  area  of  protected 
forests  is  the  encouragement  given  to  municipalities  to 
establish  their  own  forest  reser^^es.^*^  This  policy  has 
proved  very  profitable  in  Europe,  and  doubtless  will  here 
in  due  time. 

As  the  State  forest  reserves  belong  to  the  people  it 
is  fitting  that  they  should  yield  their  fullest  use  to  the 


(15)  Act  June  5,  1913,  P.  L.  405.     Act  June  5,  1913,  P.  L.  426. 
Act  June  5,  1913,  P.  L.  408. 

(16)  Act  April  22,  1909,  P.  L.  124. 


HELPING  HAND  OF  THE  STATE.  1  1  1 

citizen.  So  it  is  provided  that  the  Department  of  For- 
estry may  lease  sites  for  camps  and  bungalows  at  nom- 
inal rates.  This  opportunity  is  not  yet  fully  known  to 
the  people  and  will  doubtless  in  time  spread  the  bless- 
ings of  woods  life  to  multitudes. 

The  protection  of  the  forests,  while  primarily  under- 
taken for  the  conservation  of  the  timber  supply,  has  also 
a  striking  number  of  important  collateral  benefits.  First 
of  all  comes  the  preservation  of  the  water  supply.  For  a 
long  time  Pennsylvania  seemed  satisfied  to  let  its  waters 
get  along  as  best  they  miglit,  but  the  last  decade  has 
brought  a  full  recognition  of  the  importance  of  the 
State's  streams  to  the  welfare  of  its  inhabitants.  To 
protect  these  streams  and  to  study  the  problems  in  con- 
nection with  them,  the  State  lias  created  the  Water  Sup- 
ply Commission. ^"^  It  is  composed  of  five  members,  three 
of  whom  are  appointed  by  the  Governor.  The  other  mem- 
bers are  the  Commissioner  of  Forestry  and  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Health.  The  linking  of  these  two  commission- 
ers reveals  the  recognition  of  the  close  connection  be- 
tween the  conservation  of  the  water  supply  and  the  for- 
ests on  one  hand,  and  the  public  liealth  on  the  otlier.  No 
water  company  whether  for  the  distril)ution  of  water  or 
the  use  of  it  as  power,  may  now  be  incorporated  or  use 
any  of  the  waters  of  the  State  without  the  consent  of  the 
Watei-  Supply  Commission.  This  Commission  is  mak- 
ing a  thorough  survey  of  all  tlie  streams  in  the  State,  and 
the  interest  of  the  public  in  its  waters  is  now  being- 
watched.  Another  benefit  of  forestry  conservation 
IS  the  protection  and  propagation  of  fish  and  game. 
Owing  to  the  savage  tliat  still  remains  in  each  of 
us,  the  question  of  the  fish  and  game  supply  always 
assumes  considerable  importance.  It  is  suri)i-ising 
what    a    laro-e    amount     of    legislation    is     continuallv 


(17)   Act  May  4.  1905,  P.  L.  385. 


112  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

enacted  on  the  subject  of  fish  and  game.^^  To  a 
certain  extent  fish  and  game,  but  particularly  fish,  is 
an  economic  question.  Such  food  fishes  as  the  shad  in 
the  Delaware  and  Susquehanna  and  the  white  fish  in  Lake 
Erie  have  an  important  relation  to  the  food  supply  of 
the  State,  but  the  chief  interest  in  the  fish  and  game  sup- 
ply of  the  State  centers  around  the  question  of  sports- 
manship. For  the  preservation  of  the  fish  supply  and 
the  stocking  of  the  various  waters  of  the  Commonwealth 
the  Department  of  Fisheries  has  been  created.^^  At  the 
head  of  the  department  is  the  Commissioner  of  Fisher- 
ies, and  with  him  four  other  citizens  of  the  Common- 
Avealth,  who,  together,  constitute  the  Fisheries  Commis- 
sion. The  members  of  the  Commission  are  appointed  by 
the  Grovernor.  The  Commission  maintains  a  number  of 
hatcheries  at  different  points  in  the  State  and  has  done 
much  to  restore  the  waters  of  the  State  to  a  condition 
where  fishermen  may  gain  more  than  patience.  Anyone 
who  is  interested  in  the  piscatorial  art  and  desires  to 
exercise  it  without  leaving  the  State  should  communi- 
cate with  the  Department  of  Fisheries,  where  he  will  get 
much  valuable  information. 

The  game  of  the  State  also  has  a  special  branch  of 
the  government  for  its  protection,  called  the  Board  of 
Grame  Commissioners.-"  This  Board  serves  without  com- 
pensation. Its  secretary  and  active  executive  official  is 
known  as  the  Chief  Game  Protector.  Besides  him  there 
are  sixty  ^^  persons  known  as  Game  Protectors,  and  the 
Board  may  appoint  in  each  county  one  Deputy 
Game  Protector.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Board  to 
protect    and    preserve    the    songbirds    and    the    game, 

(18)  The  regulations  are  chang'ed  at  nearly,  every  session  of  the 
legislature.     The  latest  Act  is  June  7,  1917,  P.  L. 

(19)  Act  April  2,  1903,  P.  L.  128. 

(20)  Act  June  25,  1895,  P.  L.  273. 

(21)  Act  April  22,  1915,  P.  L.  168. 


HELPING  HAND  OF  THE  STATE.  113 

and  insectivorous  birds  and  mammals  of  the 
State,  and  in  ,i»eneial  to  enforce  the  game  laws. 
There  is  an  astonishing  amount  of  legislation  com- 
ing under  the  head  of  game  laws  and  no  one  should  at- 
tempt to  play  the  part  of  a  sportsman  in  the  State  with- 
out securing  from  the  department  a  small  volume  in 
which  the  laws  are  collected.  For  a  number  of  years  one 
of  the  subjects  of  most  lively  discussion  in  the  Legisla- 
ture was  the  question  whether  hunters  should  be  licensed. 
In  the  session  of  1913  the  advocates  of  this  measure  pre- 
vailed.-- Accordingly,  before  it  is  safe  to  go  hunting 
it  is  necessary  for  the  would-be  Nimrod  to  visit  the  oflfice 
of  the  County  Treasurer  and  pay  one  dollar.  He  then 
receives  a  license,  and  a  tag  which  bears  the  license  num- 
ber in  figures  at  least  one  inch  in  height.  This  tag  the 
licensee  must  wear  on  the  back  of  the  sleeve  between  the 
elbow  and  the  shoulder.  The  revenue  derived  from  the 
sale  of  these  licenses  may  be  used  only  for  the  further- 
ance of  game  protection  and  propagation.  For  this  rea- 
son the  hunters  do  not  feel  that  they  are  losing  their 
dollar. 

Another  department  of  the  State  government  which 
is  busied  about  the  natural  resources  of  the  State  is  the 
Geologic  and  Topographic  Surve}^  Commission.  -^  This 
Commission  co-operates  with  the  United  States  Geologi- 
cal Survey  in  the  preparation  of  a  contour  topographic 
and  geologic  survey  and  map  of  the  State.  Its  reports 
and  surveys  are  of  great  interest  in  the  mining  indus- 
tries. 

An  activity  of  the  State  which  may  well  be  grouped 
with,  conservation  is  the  maintenance  of  highways.  It  is 
only  in  recent  years  that  the  economic  value  of  usable 
roads  has  been  thoroughly  appreciated,  and  the  automo- 

(22)  Act  April  17,  1913.  P.  L.  85.    Non-residents  are  covered  bv 
Act  May  3,  1917,  P.  L. 

(23)  Act  April  28.  1899.  P.  L.  9o.     Act  July  18.  1901.  P.  I..  720. 
8 


114  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

bile  has  given  a  stimulus  to  the  good  roads  movement 
without  which  it  would  have  been  much  delayed.  The 
State  Highway  Department  was  created  in  1903.^^  In 
1911  the  Department  was  reorganized  and  greatly  ex- 
tended.^^  At  the  same  time  a  comprehensive  system  of 
State  highways  was  provided  for.  There  is  also  a  sys- 
tem of  State  aid  highways,  in  the  construction  of  which 
the  State  co-operates  with  the  counties  and  townships 
and  boroughs,  the  State  paying  half  of  the  expense  and 
the  county  and  township  each  one-quarter.  The  main- 
tenance of  the  road  is  divided  between  the  State  and  the 
township  or  borough  in  which  the  road  may  lie.  The 
State  has  gone  into  the  road-making  business  on  a  very 
large  scale.  Besides  the  State  Highway  Commissioner, 
there  are  two  Deputy  Commissioners,  a  Chief  Engineer, 
an  Assistant  Engineer,  fifteen  Civil  Engineers,  to  act  as 
assistants  to  the  Chief  Engineer,  fifty  Superintendents 
of  Highways  and  a  large  office  force.-"  This  department 
has  charge  of  licensing  automobiles,  and  the  license  fee, 
although  paid  into  the  State  treasury,  is  specifically  ap- 
propriated for  the  use  of  the  Highway  Department.-'^ 

The  physical  resources  of  the  State  are  not  all  that 
require  conservation.  The  State  abounds  in  an  intangi- 
ble resource  whose  chief  value  lies  in  the  stimulation  of 
patriotism.  This  resource  consists  of  the  places  where 
historic  memories  cling.  The  State  has  never  been  un- 
mindful of  the  value  of  these  locations,  and  has  been 
steadily  appropriating  money  for  monuments  and  mark- 

(24)  Act  April  15,  1903,  P.  L.  188. 

(25)  Aot  May  31,  1911,  P.  L.  468. 

(26)  Act  July  16,  1917,  P.  L.  creates  a  Bureau  of  Town- 
ship Highways  in  the  State  Highway  Department. 

(27)  By  Act  of  Congress  approved  July  11,  1916  the  U.  S. 
Government  extends  aid  in  the  constraction  of  rural  post  roads  to 
States  which  Avill  co-operate.  Pennsylvania  accepted  this  aid  by  Act 
April  5,  1917,  P.  L. 


HELPING  HAND  OF  THE  STATE.  115 

ers.  The  task  of  discriminating  among  the  various  appli- 
cants and  then  spending  the  money  for  this  purpose 
wisely  has  been  growing  more  and  more  difficult,  while 
at  the  same  time  the  physical  remains  of  historic  facts 
which  have  not  been  marked  or  cared  for  have  been  stead- 
ily disappearing.  In  order  that  the  State  might  act 
wisely  in  its  care  of  historic  places,  a  commission  has 
been  appointed,  called  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Com- 
mission,-^ consisting  of  five  citizens  of  the  Commonwealth 
appointed  by  the  Governor.  This  Commission  has  the 
duty  of  marking  and  preserving  the  places  where  his- 
toric events  have  occurred,  the  restoration  of  historic 
public  buildings,  military  works  or  monuments,  and  of 
co-operating  with  municipalities  or  historical  associa- 
tions in  the  same  kind  of  work.  Together  with  the  Gov- 
ernor, Auditor  General  and  State  Treasurer  the  members 
of  the  Commission  constitute  a  body  of  trustees  author- 
ized to  accept  on  behalf  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  to 
care  for,  gifts  which  may  be  made  for  the  endowment  of 
its  work. 

The  third  group  of  the  State's  machinery  for  help- 
fulness is  that  which  is  charged  with  the  direct  improve- 
ment of  the  individual  himself,  in  his  mind,  body  and 
behavior. 

The  chief  of  the  agencies  used  to  this  end  is  the  pub- 
lic school  system  with  all  of  its  ramifications,  to  which 
we  have  already  devoted  a  chapter.  Next  in  importance 
come  the  charitable  activities  of  the  State,  including  the 
number  of  State  hospitals  for  the  insane  and  other  un- 
fortunates, and  the  State's  large  appropriations  to  pri- 
vately managed  charities.  Of  these,  together  with  the 
Board  of  Public  Charities,  we  have  already  spoken. 

The  Department  of  Health  -^  is  one  of  the  biggest 
single  pieces  of  machinery  which  the  State  maintains  for 

(28)  Act  July  25,  1913,  P.  L.  1265. 

(29)  Act  April  27,  1905,  P.  L.  312. 


116  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVAXIA, 

the  assistance  of  its  citizens.  The  department  is  organ- 
ized with  a  Commissioner  of  Health  at  the  head,  and 
an  advisory  board  of  six,  the  majority  of  whom  must 
be  physicians,  and  one  of  whom  must  be  a  civil  engin- 
neer.  In  addition  to  a  considerable  office  force  there 
is  a  chief  and  an  associate  medical  inspector  and  an 
assistant  chief  medical  inspector,  a  medical  inspector  in 
each  county  except  Philadelphia  (which  has  its  ovm 
Department  of  Public  Health  and  Charities),  seven  hun- 
dred township  health  officers,  a  large  force  in  the  Bureau 
of  Vital  Statistics,  another  full  complement  in  the  lab- 
oratories and  experimental  stations,  and  a  large  number 
of  employees  in  the  various  sanatoria  and  dispensaries. 
The  department  maintains  three  sanatoria  for  tubercu- 
losis patients,  number  one  at  Mont  Alto,  where  about 
one  thousand  patients  are  being  cared  for,  number  two 
at  Cresson  where  there  are  about  three  hundred  and 
fifty  patients,  and  number  three  at  Hamburg  which  has 
just  been  completed.  Besides  these  sanatoria  there  are 
a  large  number  of  dispensaries  located  in  all  parts  of 
the  State  for  the  purpose  of  giving  out  treatment  to 
tubercular  patients.  Diphtheria  antitoxin  is  distributed 
by  the  Department  of  Health  through  six  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  ditferent  agencies,  and  tetanus  antitoxin 
through  sixty-eight  distributories.  The  State  Depart- 
ment of  Health  has  gone  about  its  duties  in  a  very  large 
way  and  has  been  liberally  supported  by  the  Legisla- 
ture. It  has  general  control  over  the  waters  of 
the  State  and  the  sewage  sj^stems  of  all  the  mu- 
nicipalities.^**  The  department  has  been  persistent- 
ly at  work  supervising  extensions  to  sewage  sys- 
tems under  the  power  given  it  by  the  act  com- 
pelling the  introduction  of  jnodern  sanitary  systems 
by  municipalities.  Philadelphia  has  been  experimenting 
for  a  number  of  years  under  the  supervision  of  the  de- 

(30)  Act  April  22,  1905,  P.  L.  260. 


HELPING    HAND    OF    THE    STATE  117 

partment,  and  only  recently  has  decided  upon  a  com- 
prehensive system  of  sewage  disposal.  This,  when  in 
full  operation,  will  remove  from  the  waters  of  the  rivers 
the  great  mass  of  sewage  which  is  now  so  injurious  to 
the  health  and  comfort  of  the  citizens. 

No  fair  description  of  the  activities  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Health  could  be  given  without  some  mention 
of  its  work  in  catastrophic  emergencies.  On  the  after- 
noon of  Saturday,  April  30,  1911,  the  great  concrete  dam 
at  Austin  gave  way  and  the  waters  overwhelmed  the 
town  with  great  loss  of  life.  Saturday  afternoon  is  not 
a  favorable  time  for  governmental  action  to  begin,  but 
the  wires  throughout  the  State  were  soon  humming  with 
orders  and  the  Commissioner  himself  hastened  to  the 
spot.  The  report  of  the  Commissioner  for  1911,  cover- 
ing this  occurrence  and  including  the  report  of  the  chief 
engineer,  provides  a  splendid  manual  of  practical  in- 
structions for  relief  work  in  emergencies.  The  more 
recent  flood  at  Erie  also  found  the  Department  of  Health 
not  w^anting. 

Another  agency  of  the  State  which  is  always  to  l)e 
found  on  hand  when  there  is  trouble  is  the  State  Police. 
Every  body  politic  worthy  of  existence  must  have  some 
means  of  enforcing  respect  for  its  decrees.  Owing  to 
the  inherited  antipathy  of  Americans  to  a  standing  army 
our  States  have  been  singularly  ill  provided  with  means 
for  protecting  their  own  sovereignty.  Local  police  forces 
have  been  familiar,  but  the  State  at  large  has  been  help- 
less to  carry  out  its  decrees  unless  it  call  upon  the  militia. 
This  is  a  veiy  expensive  proceeding.  It  is  well  known 
that  a  small  number  of  higldy  disciplined  men  are  more 
effective  than  a  much  larger  number  poorly  disciplined 
and  inexperienced.  Pennsylvania  was  the  first  State  to 
adopt  the  idea  of  pro^^ding  State  police.  Tliey  are  not 
in  any  sense  a  standing  army,  but  are  a  body  of  men  em- 
ployed by  the  State  to  enforce  its  laws  and  preserve  the 


118  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

peace.  In  times  of  disaster  they  are  usually  first  on  the 
ground,  and  bring  to  the  stricken  community  the  encour- 
aging assurance  of  the  State's  care  and  protection. 

We  include  the  Department  of  Mines  in  the  group  of 
State  activities  busied  with  the  direct  improvement  of 
the  condition  of  the  citizens,  because  its  chief  energies 
are  expended  in  protecting  the  health  and  lives  of  the 
men  in  the  mines.  There  is  a  large  body  of  law  relat- 
ing to  the  safety  of  the  operation  of  the  many  mines, 
particularly  coal  mines,  in  the  State,  and  the  chief  duty 
of  the  Department  of  Mines  is  to  make  continual  inspec- 
tions to  insure  that  the  law  is  obeyed.  This  department 
was  created  in  1903,  superseding  the  Bureau  of  Mines 
in  the  Department  of  Internal  Affairs. ^^  Subject  to  the 
Department  of  Mines  are  numerous  mine  inspectors 
throughout  the  various  coal  regions  of  the  State.  A  curi- 
ous extension  of  democracy  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
mine  inspectors  in  anthracite  coal  regions  are  elected  by 
the  voters  of  the  several  inspection  districts. ^^ 

A  further  development  of  the  conceptions  of  the 
State  as  a  direct  aid  to  its  citizens  is  nowhere  better  il- 
lustrated than  in  the  creation  of  the  Department  of  Labor 
and  Industry.^^  This  department,  in  the  first  place,  has 
care  of  the  health  and  safety  of  the  citizens  of  the  Com- 
monwealth employed  in  industry  by  reason  of  its  duty  of 
enforcing  the  various  factory  laws  of  the  State.  It  also 
acts  as  a  physician  for  the  industry  of  the  State  by  di- 
rectly taking  a  hand  in  the  symptoms  of  industrial  ill- 
ness known  as  strikes  and  lock-outs..  This  department 
of  the  work  is  in  charge  of  the  Bureau  of  Mediation  and 
Arbitration.  The  department  is  kept  in  touch  with  the 
non- official  part  of  the  Commonwealth  by  means  of  the 

(31)  Act  April  14,  1903,  P.  L.  180. 

(32)  Acts  June  8,  1901,  P.  L.  535 ;  May  3,  1905,  P.  L.  363 ;  May 
3,  1909,  P.  L.  420;  May  5,  1911,  P.  L.  120. 

(33)  Act  June  2,  1913,  P.  L,  396. 


HELPING    HAND   OF    THE    STATE.  119 

industrial  board  which,  in  addition  to  the  Commissioner 
of  Labor  and  Industry,  consists  of  four  members,  ap- 
pointed by  the  Governor,  one  of  whom  must  be  an  em- 
ployer of  labor,  one  a  wage  earner  and  one  a  woman. 
Presumably  the  fourth  member  is  to  represent  Mr.  Com- 
mon People,  so  that  every  interest  likely  to  be  affected 
by  industrial  disturbance  has  a  representative  upon  the 
board.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Mr.  Common  People's 
representative  will  be  very  able  and  active,  since  his  con- 
stituents are  those  who  in  the  long  run  bear  the  brunt 
of  industrial  maladjustment. 

By  recent  legislation  the  department  has  been  given 
the  duty  of  establishing  a  State  Employment  Bureau.^^ 
Foreign  countries  have  far  surpassed  this  country  in 
cariying  out  the  idea  that  the  State  ought  to  assist  its 
citizens  in  finding  employment.  It  is  always  a  public 
misfortune  when  citizens  with  skill  and  strength  are 
unable  to  use  them  in  earning  a  livelihood,  and  since  the 
value  of  an  employment  agency  grows  in  direct  ratio 
vnth.  its  scope,  it  is  proper  that  the  business  of  finding 
employment  should  be  a  State  activity,  even  a  State 
monopoly,  although  the  laws  at  present  do  not  contem- 
plate going  so  far.  They  simply  require  registration 
and  licensing  on  behalf  of  private  bureaus  in  order  that 
the  State  may  keep  them  in  proper  control.^*'* 

One  of  the  most  recent  and  most  important  duties 
laid  upon  the  State  Department  of  Labor  and  Industry 
is  the  part  which  it  plays  in  the  operation  of  the  new 
Workmen's  Compensation  Act."'"  The  question  of  em- 
ployers' liability  and  workmen's  compensation  is  ex- 
tremely complicated  and  intricate,  but  the  needs  and  suf- 
fering of  the  workmen  in  connection  with  industrial  ac- 
cidents usually  reduce  themselves  to  a  very  simple  (]ues- 

(34)  Act  June  4,  1915,  P.  L.  833. 

(35)  Act  June  7,  1915,  P.  L.  888. 

(36)  Act  June  2,  1915,  P.  L.  736.  Act  June  2,  1915,  P.  L.  762. 


120  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

tion  for  the  injured  operative.  He  sees  it  usually  as  a 
matter  of  sudden  injury  or  industrial  disease  wherein  he 
loses  his  means  of  livelihood.  On  the  part  of  the  State  the 
question  appears  pressing,  because  annually  thousands 
of  industrious  citizens  are  rendered  incapable  of  further 
supporting  themselves  or  their  dependents,  and  in  con- 
sequence the  State  and  local  charitable  organizations 
are  put  to  great  expense.  Dependents  brought  up  by 
public  charity  are  seldom  as  eifective  citizens  as  those 
brought  up  in  a  normal  Avay  in  a  family.  To  the  em- 
ployer the  question  usually  presents  itself  in  the  light 
of  the  expense  to  which  he  is  put  in  defending  lawsuits, 
the  totally  unpredictable  amount  of  liability  which  he 
may  be  under  during  any  one  year  on  account  of  acci- 
dents for  which  he  may  be  held  liable,  and  the 
drain  on  his  sympathies  when  he  realizes  that  only  an 
extremely  small  percentage  of  his  injured  employees  may 
expect  to  receive  anything  in  the  way  of  damages.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  he  made  a  general  provision  for  all 
who  were  injured  in  his  employ,  he  would  find  competi- 
tion with  other  employers  in  the  same  line  of  business 
impossible.  Workmen's  compensation  is  a  scheme  which 
obviates  the  difficulty  from  the  point  of  view  of  all  three 
parties  interested.  It  proceeds  upon  the  theory  that 
modern  industry  has  produced  a  condition  where  the  vast 
bulk  of  the  accidents  are  due  rather  to  the  risk  of  the 
employment  than  to  the  fault  of  anybody  in  particular, 
and  that  it  would  be  a  wise  public  policy  to  have  every 
workman  assured  of  some  compensation  in  case  of  acci- 
dent, entirely  apart  from  the  question  as  to  who  was 
negligent.  At  one  fell  swoop  this  method  cuts  off  and 
saves  to  the  community  almost  the  whole  of  the  great 
burden  of  expensive  litigation  which  hitherto  preceded 
the  distribution  of  whatever  amount  actually  was  col- 
lected for  injured  workmen.  It  is,  of  course,  highly 
advantageous  to  workmen  themselves,  except  that  the 


HELPING    HAND    OF    THE   STATE.  121 

schedules  of  payment  under  the  act  while  certain,  are 
uniformly  smaller  than  a  workman  might  possibly  col- 
lect in  case  he^won  a  successful  suit  for  damages  under 
the  old  system.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  employer 
there  is  substituted  a  definite  liability  each  year  in  the 
insurance  premium  which  he  is  now  practically  compelled 
to  carry  and  which  is  borne  equally  by  himself  and  all 
l«is  competitors  in  the  State,  and,  since  surrounding 
States  are  rapidly  adopting  similar  laws,  is  also  pai<l  by 
his  competitors  in  the  other  States.  Thus  the  burden  is 
spread  over  the  whole  community,  where  it  would  rest 
eventually  at  any  rate.  But,  instead  of  being  paid  by 
the  community  to  the  courts,  almshouses  and  orphan 
asylums,  it  is  paid  directly  to  the  man  injured,  enab- 
ling him  to  maintain  a  normal  family  life  for  the  upbring- 
ing of  his  children. 

Having  now  traced  the  activities  of  the  State  in  the 
furthering  of  the  business  interests  of  the  citizens,  the 
preservation  of  the  resources  of  the  State  for  his  benefit 
and  the  actual  care  of  the  State  for  the  person  of  tlie 
citizen,  we  have  but  to  mention  the  single  instance  where 
the  State  directly  supervises  the  moral  interests  of  the 
citizen.  This  is  done  by  the  establishment  of  the  State 
Board  of  Censors  for  moving  picture  films. •^" 

The  brief  description  given  in  this  chapter  of  the 
various  activities  of  the  State  for  the  immediate  benefit 
of  the  citizens  will  serve  to  indicate  how  far  advanced 
we  are  along  the  road  to  State  helpfulness.  It  cannot  be 
supposed  that  the  tendency  in  this  direction  will  be 
clieeked,  and  in  future  days  the  State  will  probably  do 
many  things  that  now  are  considered  outside  the  scope  of 
government. 

(37)  Act  May  15,  1915.  P.  L.  534.  Amended  Act  May  10.  Ifll7. 
P.  L. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE  COUKTS. 


'  *  /^^  OING  to  Court ' '  is  the  most  definite  description 
^  TT  which  many  citizens  could  give  of  any  piece  of 
business  which  involves  contact  with  judicial 
machinery.  It  is  not  surprising  that  there  should  be  a 
great  deal  of  confusion  of  mind  about  the  organization 
of  our  courts  and  the  structure  of  bur  judicial  system, 
because  the  subject  is  technical  and  involved,  and  because 
most  of  us  can  go  through  life  without  much  need  for 
laiowledge  of  it.  If  we  do  have  need  of  the  court,  we 
employ  professional  assistants  and  take  the  advice  of 
our  lawyers.  The  w^hole  matter  might  be  relegated  to  the 
legal  profession  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  questions 
intimately  concerning  the  courts  are  constantly  coming 
up  for  popular  decision,  either  in  the  Legislature  or 
directly  by  the  people  in  constitutional  amendments.  For 
this  reason  citizens  should  be  equipped  with  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  general  structure  of  our  judicial  system,  the 
place  in  that  system  of  the  various  courts,  and  the  in- 
fluences at  work  tending  toward  a  modification  of  it. 

While  there  are  striking  differences  between  the  ju- 
dicial systems  of  the  several  States,  there  are  certain 
broad  features  in  which  they  are  all  alike.  There  is  in 
every  State  a  court  of  last  resort  w^hich  hears  matters 
brought  to  it  by  appeal  from  the  lower  tribunals.  There 
are  always  local  courts  to  which  cases  are  brought  in 
the  first  place,  called  courts  of  original  jurisdiction.  And 
then  there  are  various  kinds  of  local  courts  of  very  limited 
jurisdiction  to  settle  matters  too  petty  to  be  brought  be- 
fore the  regular  courts.  In  describing  Pennsylvania's 
system,  we  shall  keep  this  threefold  division  in  view  and 
shall  begin  with  the  lowest. 
122 


THE    COURTS. 


123 


In  Pennsylvania  the  lowest  official  belonging  to  the 
judiciary  goes  under  various  names  in  different  parts  of 
the  State.  Throughout  the  rural  districts  he  is  known 
as  a  justice  of  the  peace.  This  name  is  historically  the 
most  correct,  and  links  him  with  his  line  of  succession, 
as  Avill  shortly  be  pointed  out.  In  other  parts  of  the 
State,  notably  in  Pittsburgh,  he  is  known  as  an  alderman, 
and  in  Philadelphia  the  same  official  appears  under  the 
name  of  magistrate.  This  difference  of  name  is  not  due 
to  the  caprice  of  local  nomenclature,  but  to  that  of  the 
statutory  draftsmen  who  have  drawTi  the  several  acts 
regulating  these  minor  judicial  officers  in  the  various 
municipal  divisions  of  the  State.  There  are  certain  slight 
differences  in  jurisdiction  between  justices  of  the  peace, 
aldermen  and  magistrates,  the  most  important  of  which 
is  the  fact  that  justices  of  the  peace  and  aldermen  have 
jurisdiction  in  civil  cases  to  the  amount  of  three  hundred 
dollars,  while  magistrates  are  limited  in  their  jurisdic- 
tion to  one  hundred  dollars.  Apart  from  this  there  is 
no  difference  of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  a  dis- 
cussion here. 

These  minor  officials  are  direct  descendants  of  the 
English  justices  of  the  peace.  At  the  time  we  copied 
our  institution  from  England,  the  justices  of  the  peace 
or  petty  magistrates  were  exclusively  of  the  local  gentry, 
the  men  best  fitted  by  their  training,  and  particularly  by 
their  standing  in  the  conmiunity,  for  the  work  of  com- 
posing local  quarrels  and  punishing  minor  delinquencies. 
In  that  day  and  in  such  a  society  the  institution  was 
natural  and  effective,  but  when  transplanted  to  our 
shores  and  placed  among  the  vastly  changed  conditions 
of  the  present  day  it  has  broken  down.  There  are  three 
distinct  characteristics  of  the  court  held  by  the  justice 
of  the  peace.  In  the  first  place  it  is  a  court  of  limited  jur- 
isdiction, that  is  to  say,  it  can  deal  with  only  certain 
classes  of  cases  and  also  it  cannot  consider  cases  wliich 


124  STATE  GOVERIsrMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

involve  questions  whose  money  value  is  more  than  a  cer- 
tain limited  amount.  In  the  second  place,  it  is  not  "a 
court  of  record."  This  does  not  mean  that  the  justice 
keeps  no  docket  or  other  notes  of  what  he  has  done,  but 
it  means  that  his  notes  and  dockets  are  not  court  records 
in  the  sense  in  which  that  term  is  used  throughout  the 
law.  In  the  third  place,  justices  of  the  peace  are  not  re- 
quired to  be,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  seldom  are,  members 
of  the  bar. 

The  exact  limitation  of  a  justice 's  jurisdiction  and  the 
fact  that  his  court  is  not  a  court  of  record,  are  technical 
matters  of  no  importance  in  this  general  sketch,  but  the 
fact  that  the  justices  of  the  peace  are  not  trained  to  the 
law  is  a  matter  of  vital  import  to  every  citizen  and  con- 
sequently needs  some  discussion  here. 

Two  general  lines  of  argument  are  frequently  urged 
to  justify  setting  up  untrained  men  in  judgment  over 
their  neighbors.  The  first  is  based  on  the  idea  that  since 
the  matters  which  come  before  this  tribunal  are  unim- 
portant it  is  a  matter  of  no  importance  what  kind  of  an 
incumbent  holds  the  office.  The  second  line,  of  argument 
is  based  on  a  very  deep-rooted  idea  that  a  justice  of  the 
peace  should  be  a  man  of  the  people,  and  that  any  kind 
of  training,  especially  legal  training,  separates  a  man 
from  the  general  mass  and  makes  him  out  of  sympathy 
with  them.  Both  of  these  ideas  are  distressing  mistakes, 
and  have  worked  much  evil  in  the  Commonwealth.  While 
it  is  true  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  magistrate  is  limi- 
ted, it  is  not  true  that  the  issues  within  their  jurisdic- 
tion are  unimportant.  They  deal  with  the  business  mat- 
ters of  the  poor,  and  with  the  liberty  of  the  citizen  who 
cannot  afford  the  services  of  a  lawyer  to  appeal  his  case 
to  a  higher  court.  Frequently  the  small  sums  involved 
are  like  the  widow's  mite,  ''all  she  had."  It  is  vitally 
important  that  such  claims  should  be  decided  promptly 
and  ably,  for  the  poor  litigants  have  not  the  time  to  at- 


THE   COURTS. 


125 


tend  court  on  appeal,  nor  money  to  hire  lawyers  to  per- 
fect the  appeal,  nor  sureties  to  go  upon  the  appeal  bond. 
The  theory  that  it  is  unimportant  what  kind  of  a  minor 
judiciary  we  have,  has  bonie  its  perfect  fruit,  and  now 
in  a  vast  number  of  cases  the  magistrate's  court  has 
come  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  place  for  a  mere  preliminary 
formality  in  matters  where  the  sum  is  too  small  to  give 
original  jurisdiction  to  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  It 
is  quite  ordinary  practice  for  the  defendant  not  to  ap- 
pear at  all  and  when  judginent  is  given  against  him  by 
default,  to  appeal.  While  undoubtedly  this  is  frequent- 
ly done  for  delay,  yet  all  too  frequently  it  is  the  i-esult 
of  a  feeling  that  no  adequate  trial  will  be  given  in  the 
magistrate's  court,  and  that  since  an  appeal  is  inevi- 
table, any  time  taken  in  the  magistrate's  court  is  merely 
wasted. 

If  only  money  matters  were  handled  in  these  minor 
courts  the  theory  that  what  the  justices  did  was  unim- 
portant might  be  upheld  at  least  to  the  extent  that  it 
could  be  no  more  important  than  the  value  of  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  or  three  hundred  dollars,  as  the  case  might 
be,  but  the  magistrates  and  justices  of  the  peace  are 
the  judicial  officers  who  come  closest  to  the  citizens  in 
matters  involving  their  personal  liberty.  It  is  the  crimi- 
nal jurisdiction  of  these  officers  that  gives  them  their 
great  power.  How  great  this  power  is,  seldom  is  ap- 
preciated by  the  people  at  large.  In  order  to  make  clear 
the  place  of  the  minor  judiciary  in  the  system  of  crimi- 
nal jurisdiction,  let  us  observe  what  happens  to  a  crimi- 
nal after  the  law  has  laid  its  hea^y  hand  upon  him.  The 
arresting  officer  usually  escorts  his  prisoner  to  a  sta- 
tion house  or  village  lockup,  where  he  is  held  for  safe- 
keeping. The  station  house  is  by  no  means  intended  as 
a  place  for  punishment,  but  merely  as  a  place  of  deten- 
tion until  such  time  as  the  prisoner  can  be  brought  before 
a  judicial  officer.     This  matter  is  frequently  misunder- 


126  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

stood,  and  people  avIio  have  merely  spent  the  night  at  the 
station  house  are  often  branded  with  the  unmerited 
stigma  of  having  been  in  jail.  No  policeman  can  put  a 
person  in  jail  or  force  him  to  undergo  any  punishment. 
His  power  is  liraited  to  apprehending  a  person  suspected 
of  a  crime  and  keeping  him  safely  until  his  case  is  judici- 
ally determined.  At  the  earliest  opportunity,  usually 
bright  and  early  the  next  morning,  the  prisoner  faces  the 
judge.  (On  such  occasions,  at  least,  the  magistrate  is 
always  called  judge).  If  the  crime  is  of  a  very  minor 
nature,  the  magistrate  will  be  able  to  proceed  to  sum- 
mary conviction,  that  is  to  say  he  can,  by  virtue  of  his 
own  judicial  power,  sentence  .the  prisoner  to  a  penal  in- 
stitution. Such  is  the  proceeding  when  we  read  of  the 
magistrate  saying,  ''Ten  days"  or  "Six  months,"  or 
"Sending  him  up"  to  the  workhouse,  or  house  of  cor- 
rection. If  the  grade  of  the  crime  charged  is  beyond 
this  summary  method,  the  function  of  the  magistrate 
is  limited  to  holding  the  prisoner  for  court,  or  if  the 
evidence  is  insufficient  to  warrant  this,  of  discharging 
him.  This  power  of  summary  conviction  for  minor 
crimes  gives  the  magistrate  enormous  power  over  a 
large  class  of  humble  citizens.  He  represents  all  the 
majesty  of  the  law  they  know.  When  brought  before 
him  they  see  that  they  are  released  or  punished  without 
trial  by  jury  and  in  obedience  to  his  mere  fiat.  Another 
great  source  of  the  magistrate's  power  is  his  ability  to 
discharge  after  a  hearing  people  arrested  for  major 
crimes.  While  such  a  discharge  does  not  prevent  a  re- 
arrest and  a  hearing  before  another  magistrate,  it  goes 
a  long  way  towards  discouraging  the  prosecution  of  an 
offender,  and  if  a  number  of  magistrates  all  amenable 
to  the  same  influences  should  combine  to  discharge  a 
prisoner  it  would  be  very  hard  to  bring  him  finally  to 
justice,  no  matter  how  guilty.  Araied  with  these  powers 
the  magistrates  are  in  a  position  to  make  themselves  a. 


THE   COURTS.  127 

strong'  factor  in  a  political  machine.  These  powerful 
political  engines  are  always  nourished  by  favors.  Pat- 
ronage supplies  the  most  public,  and,  therefore,  the  best 
understood  fuel  for  the  political  machines,  but  the  num- 
ber of  offices  at  the  disposal  of  the  party  is  limited,  while 
the  power  of  the  magistrates  to  help  or  hurt  is  as  broad 
as  the  number  of  citizens  too  poor  to  secure  adequate 
counsel  for  their  protection.  The  temptation  to  the 
magistrate  to  use  his  powers  for  political  purposes  is 
very  great,  and  the  temptation  is  enhanced  by  the  com- 
parative secrecy  in  which  many  of  his  acts  are  per- 
formed. The  offices  of  the  magistrates  are  scattered 
throughout  the  city,  and^the  matters  they  deal  with  are 
usually  considered  too  trivial  to  be  chronicled.  To  dis- 
charge a  prisoner  on  bail  is  one  of  the  ways  in  which 
magistrates  can  make  tliemselves  ''useful."  These  dis- 
charges can  be  granted  at  any  time  or  any  place. 

While  it  is  not  urged  that  a  legal  training  for  magis- 
ti'ates  would  make  them  absolutely  pure  and  free  from 
political  influence,  it  is  certain  that  it  would  give  them  a 
greater  respect  for  their  office,  for  the  law  and  for  the 
importance  of  their  functions,  and  would  prevent  them 
from  being  betrayed  into  the  frequent  misuse  of  their 
power  now  prevalent,  especially  in  committing  to  penal 
institutions. 

Writers  on  social  subjects  have  frequently  made  the 
charge  that  the  law  pays  more  respect  to  property  than 
it  does  to  the  rights  of  the  individual.  How  far  this  ac- 
cusation may  be  justified  this  is  not  the  place  to  discuss, 
but  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  it  seems  easier  to 
arouse  the  public  when  their  property  rights  are  in- 
vaded than  it  is  when  there  is  a  mere  invasion  of  their 
right  to  liberty.  While  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  fact 
that  the  worst  failures  of  the  magistrates  in  Philadel- 
phia are  in  their  administration  of  the  criminal  law,  it 
was  their  inadequacy  on  the  civil  side  which  originated 


128  STATE   GOVEKNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  movement  destined  in  all  probability  to  result  in  their 
elimination.  After  the  merchants  of  the  State  had 
thoroughly  lost  patience  with  the  inefficiency  of  the  mag- 
istrates' and  aldermen's  courts,  they  organized  a  power- 
ful movement  to  secure  the  creation  of  a  new  type  of 
court  to  handle  minor  cases.  The  organization  and  early 
success  of  the  Municipal  Court  in  Chicago  pointed  the 
w^ay.  The  movement  was  undertaken  both  in  Pittsburgh 
and  in  Philadelphia,  but  the  western  part  of  the  State, 
which  is  usually  more  advanced  in  political  ideas  than 
the  eastern  part,  was  successful  first,  and  in  the  session 
of  the  Legislature  of  1911  a  bill  was  passed  creating  a 
County  Court  in  Allegheny  County  with  jurisdiction  both 
in  civil  and  criminal  matters,  but  limited  in  extent.^  Phil- 
adelphia tried  the  same  year  to  get  a  similar  measure 
passed,  but  the  magistrates  were  fully  alive  to  the  fact 
that  the  movement  for  the  new  court  was  largely  a  criti- 
cism of  themselves,  and  so,  aptly  illustrating  the  fact 
that  their  position  gives  them  great  political  power,  they 
combined  to  secure  the  defeat  of  this  measure  of  relief 
for  Philadelphia.  During  the  interim  before  the  next 
session  the  demand  in  Philadelphia  grew,  and  was  re- 
inforced by  the  realization  of  the  social  workers  that 
some  new  tribunal  was  necessary  if  modern  ideas  of  the 
application  of  justice  to  social  needs  were  to  be  carried 
out.  The  combined  pressure  of  Philadelphia's  commer- 
cial needs,  its  social  needs,  and  the  general  recognition 
that  some  relief  from  the  congestion  of  business  in  the 
courts  of  common  pleas  was  necessary  was  sufficient  to 
secure  the  enactment  in  the  session  of  1913  of  a  law  es- 


(1)  Act  May  5,  1911,  P.  L.  198.  This  act  was  hastily  drafted 
and  has  required  considerable  tinkering,  Act  June  6,  1911,  P.  L.  664; 
Act  March  27.  1913^  P.  L.  17;  Act  April  2,  1913,  P.  L.  21;  Act  May 
23,  1913,  P.  L.  310;  Act  June  25,  1913,  P.  L.  545;  Act  March  19,  1915. 
P.  L.  6;  Act  May  14,  1915,  P.  L.  502;  Act  May  14,  1915,  P.  L.  505; 
Act  March  30,  1917,  P.  L. 


THE   COURTS.  129 

tablishing  the  Municipal  Court  of  Philadelphia.^  It  was 
not  possible  to  abolish  the  office  of  magistrate,  since  it 
is  provided  for  by  the  Constitution,  nor  is  it  likely  that 
the  act  establishing  the  Municipal  Court  could  have  been 
passed  if  it  had  provided  for  the  absolute  extinction  of 
the  magistrates.  So  in  Philadelphia  the  two  systems 
now  exist  side  by  side,  and  a  good  opportunity  will  be 
afforded  to  observe  the  operation  of  the  principle  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest. 

The  Municipal  Court  has  jurisdiction  both  in  civil 
and  criminal  matters.  In  civil  matters  its  jurisdiction 
is  limited  to  cases  involving  no  more  than  six  hundred 
dollars  in  contract  cases  and  fifteen  hundred  dollars  in 
cases  involving  personal  injury.  In  criminal  matters  it 
has  jurisdiction  over  all  but  crimes  of  the  most  grave 
nature.  What  gives  the  Municipal  Court  its  dignity  and 
standing  in  the  judicial  system  is  the  fact  that  appeals 
from  its  decision  are  not  taken  to  the  Common  Pleas 
Courts,  as  is  the  case  with  the  magistrates,  but  directly 
to  the  Superior  or  the  Supreme  Court  as  the  case  may 
be.  Thus  it  stands  on  an  equality  with  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  in  everything  except  the  extent  of  its 
jurisdiction. 

The  opportunity  presented  by  the  constitution  of  a 
new  tribunal  of  introducing  many  improvements  in 
judicial  procedure  was  promptly  seen.  It  is  easy  to  trace 
throughout  the  statute  creating  the  court  the  dominant 
purpose  of  making  the  new  tribunal  an  instrument  for 
social  service.  Primarily,  the  court  is  to  fulfill  this  itleal 
by  dispensing  prompt  and  cheap  justice.  With  this  in 
view,  the  statute  provides  for  a  shortening  and  simpli- 
fication of  the  procedure  now  in  force  in  the  Common 
Pleas.  The  litigants  may  tell  their  story  to  tlie  clerk 
of  the  court,  and  he  will  make  out  the  requisite  statement 
or  answer.    The  trial  of  cases  by  a  judge  without  a  jury 

(2)   Act  July  12>  1913.  P.  L.  711. 
9 


130  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

is  encouraged.  The  right  to  a  jury  trial  is  protected  by 
the  Constitution,  and  no  one  who  desires  a  jury  trial  can 
be  deprived  of  it  against  his  will,  but  since  the  calling 
of  a  jury  involves  certain  expenses,  there  is  no  legal 
objection  to  requiring  the  litigant  who  desires  a  jury 
to  pay  for  it,  and  so  the  statute  requires  the  litigant  to 
elect  whether  he  will  have  a  jury  trial  or  not.  If  he  de- 
cides that  he  will,  he  must  pay  the  jury  fee  of  four  dol- 
lars. This  has  the  expected  effect  of  greatly  reducing 
the  number  of  cases  tried  before  a  jury,  and  so  largely 
increasing  the  number  of  cases  which  can  be  disposed 
of  in  a  given  time.  But  beyond  the  mere  prompt  des- 
patch of  justice,  there  are  many  ways  in  which  the  new 
Municipal  Court  is  expected  to  further  the  end  of  con- 
structive justice. 

Modern  social  thought  in  common  with  modern  medi- 
cal thought  realizes  that  prevention  is  far  more  effective 
than  cure.  To  this  realization  can  be  ascribed  the  great 
advance  in  housing,  playgrounds,  public  baths  and  other 
improvements  in  physical  living  conditions,  and  the  jun- 
ior republics,  boy  scouts  and  other  movements  which 
aim  to  train  the  future  citizen  for  his  responsibili- 
ties. The  same  idea  is  now  affecting  the  treatment  of 
the  delinquent  classes.  Originally  punishment  was  mere- 
ly retaliation;  then  self-protection;  and  now  punishment 
is  also  considered  as  a  means  for  the  rescue  of  the 
prisoner  from  his  degradation.  In  this  is  found  the  best 
self -protection  for  society.  When  a  prisoner  has  been 
merely  punished  (as  the  records  show)  he  is  apt  to  need 
punishment  again  and  again,  but  when  he  has  been  re- 
made he  ceases  to  be  a  charge  on  society. 

The  influence  of  this  point  of  view  is  very  apparent 
not  only  in  the  statute  which  0reated  the  Municipal 
Court,  but  also  in  the  court's  operation  and  method.  All 
juvenile  delinquents  now  come  before  the  Municipal 
Court.     The  early  years  of  the  twentieth  century  have 


THE   COURTS.  131 

seen  a  great  change  in  the  attitude  of  society  towards 
the  child.  Once  he  was  treated  as  a  little  adult,  but  now 
it  is  realized  that  his  mental  processes  are  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  his  elders.  The  new  science  of 
child  psychology  has  laid  the  foundation  for  advance  in 
many  directions  in  the  treatment  of  children,  and  the 
quickened  sympathies  of  this  generation  have  availeil 
themselves  of  the  new  light.  When  once  it  is  realized 
that  children  do  not  think  as  adults,  it  is  but  a  short 
step  to  realize  that  tliey  need  to  be  treated  in  a  different 
way.  This  conception  was  worked  out  in  practice 
through  the  creation  of  the  Juvenile  Court.^ 

At  first  this  work  was  made  a  department  of  the 
Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  but  apparently  the  judges 
never  rose  to  the  conception  of  the  majesty  of  this  work, 
for  they  divided  it  up  among  themselves  in  rotation,  as 
if  it  were  a  disagreeable  work  that  must  be  shared  equal- 
ly to  be  fair  to  all.    The  result  was  that  no  judge  sat  for 

(3)  Act  May  21, 1901,  P.  L.  279.  This  act  was  repealed  and  replaced 
by  the  act  of  April  23,,  1903,  P.  L.  274.  The  preamble  of  the  latter 
act  is  worth  reproducing  entire  as  illustrating'  how  completely  the 
new  conception  has  been  taken  up  into  the  law. 

"Whereas.  The  welfare  of  the  State  demands  that  children  should 
be  guarded  from  association  and  contract  with  crime  and  ci'iminals, 
and  the  ordinary  process  of  the  criminal  law  does  not  provide  such 
treatment  and  care  and  moral  encouragement  as  are  essential  to  all 
children  in  the  formative  period  of  life,  but  endangers  the  whole 
future  of  the  child; 

And  Whereas,  Experience  has  sliown  that  children,  lacking 
proper  parental  care  or  guardianship,  are  led  into  courses  of  life 
which  may  render  them  liable  to  the  pains  and  penalties  of  the 
criminal  law  of  the  State,  althougli  in  fact  the  real  interests  of  such 
child  or  children  require  that  they  be  not  incai'cerated  in  peniten- 
tiaries and  jails,  as  members  of  the  criminal  class,  but  be  subject  to 
a  wise  care,  treatment  and  control,  that  their  e\41  tendencies  may 
be  checked  and  their  better  instincts  may  be  strengthened; 

And  Whereas,  To  that  end,  it  is  important  that  the  powers  of 
the  courts,  in  respect  to  the  cave,  treatment  and  control  over  depen- 
dent, neglected,  delinquent  and  incon-igible  children,  should  be 
clearly  distinguished  from  the  powers  exercised  in  the  administration 
of  the  criminal  law.    Be  it  enacted,  etc." 


132  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  recognize  the  recurrent 
cases.  The  creation  of  the  Municipal  Court  gave  the  op- 
portunity for  the  erection  of  machinery  adequate  to 
bring  the  court  up  to  the  level  of  enlightened  public 
opinion.  Work  for  the  reformation  of  individuals  re- 
quires constant  patience  and  supervision.  This  is  true 
whether  the  individuals  to  be  helped  are  adults  or  chil- 
dren. Domestic  relations  cases,  such  as  the  ordering  of 
husbands  to  pay  support  to  their  wives,  require  the  con- 
stant supervision  of  a  judge  familiar  with  the  cases, 
therefore  the  Municipal  Court  was  given  exclusive  juris- 
diction of  domestic  relations  cases  also. 

In  order  to  remove  children  from  the  debasing  in- 
fluences of  contact  with  criminals  and  the  disastrous  re- 
sults of  treating  them  as  criminals,  it  is  provided  that 
there  shall  be  no  preliminary  hearing  for  children  with 
the  binding  over  for  court,  which  is  the  ordinary  practice 
in  criminal  cases,  as  previously  described,  but  ''such 
children  shall  be  brought  immediately  before  the  judge 
of  the  Juvenile  Court,  and  he  shall  hear  and  determine 
such  cases  separately  from  each  other,  at  such  places  and 
at  such  hours  of  the  day  or  night  as  will  in  the  judgment 
of  the  president  judge  and  of  'the  judge  of  the  Juvenile  • 
Court,  be  most  conducive  to  the  welfare  of  such  chil- 
dren.^ In  order  to  make  it  impossible  for  the  Municipal 
Court  judges  to  chop  up  the  juvenile  work  among  them 
for  short  periods  each,  it  was  provided  by  the  statute 
that  one  of  the  judges  shall  be  designated  to  hold  the 
Juvenile  Court  for  a  period  of  one  year  or  longer.  It 
is  probable  that  a  judge  once  having  been  chosen  for 
this  work  will  continue  in  it  throughout  his  term  of  office, 
and  that  his  success  will  grow  with  his  experience. 

The  Municipal  Court,  with  its  judges  specially  desig- 

(4)  Act  July  12,  1913,  P.  L.  711,  Sec.  9.  Exclusive  charge  of 
the  House  of  Detention  is  given  to  the  Municipal  Court  by  Act  April 
26,  1917,  P.  L. 


THE   COURTS.  133 

nated  for  juvenile  and  for  domestic  relations  work,  and 
with  its  corps  of  probation  officers,  is  now  equipped  to 
give  a  direct  parental  care  over  the  classes  in  the  com- 
munity which  specially  require  that  kind  of  attention. 
The  success  of  the  court  in  its  new  line  of  work  encour- 
aged the  Legislature  to  entiiist  it  with  more.  Experi- 
ence had  demonstrated  that  the  arbitrary  line  of  sixteen 
years  did  not  mark  the  time  when  it  was  safe  to  consider 
children  adults  so  far  as  subjecting  them  to  the 
criminal  court  was  concerned.  Accordingly,  it  was  pro- 
vided ^  that  adolescents  from  16  to  21  years  of  age  were 
to  be  handled  directly  by  the  Municipal  Court,  instead 
of  by  magistrates  and  the  Quarter  Sessions  Court  as  be- 
fore. Three  classes  of  cases  now  come  before  the  Mu- 
nicipal Court  under  this  legislation:  (1),  incorrigible  boys 
from  16  to  21  years  of  age;  (2),  incorrigible  girls  of  the 
same  age,  and  (3),  street  walkers.  In  dealing  with  the 
boys,  after  they  have  been  locked  up  in  the  House  of 
Detention  for  a  period  ranging  from  twenty-four  hours 
to  three  days,  the  probation  machinery  of  the  court  ex- 
erts itself  through  an  employment  agency  of  its  own  to 
get  the  boy  a  job.  While  working  at  this  job,  a  probation 
officer  keeps  track  of  him  for  a  period  of  one  year.  One 
night  a  week  during  that  period  the  boy  visits  the  officer, 
and  once  every  two  weeks  the  officer  visits  the  boy's 
home.  If  the  result  has  been  satisfactory,  at  the  end  of 
the  year  the  boy  will  be  discharged  from  probation  and 
will  be  well  started  on  his  way  to  self-respecting  inde- 
pendence. The  girls  are  treated  much  in  the  same  way, 
and  are  subjected  to  constant  supervision  by  women  pro- 
bation officers.  The  treatment  of  the  third  class  of  cases 
is  one  of  the  greatest  problems  before  the  court,  yet  it 
is  very  encouraging  that  at  last  society  is  striving  for 
a  constructive  solution  of  this  problem.  Heretofore, 
they  were  simply  punished,  and  very  few  cases  are  on 
(5)  Act  June  17,  1915,  P.  L.  1017. 


134  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

record  where  the  punishment  worked  a  reformation. 
Under  the  brief  experience  of  the  Municipal  Court  with 
its  new  powers,  there  has  still  been  developed  no  treat- 
ment for  the  confirmed  cases  except  incarceration.  With 
the  younger  cases,  however,  much  is  accomplished. 
Where  necessary,  medical  treatment  is  given.  Cases  of 
feeble-mindedness  are  discovered  and  sent  to  proper  in- 
stitutions,*^ and  every  effort  is  made  by  the  probation 
ofiicers  to  change  the  environment  and  remove  the  delin- 
quent to  an  atmosphere  where  improvement  seems  pos- 
sible. 

When  stated  in  cold  legal  terms  of  jurisdiction,  the 
creation  of  the  Municipal  Court  might  not  seem  to  be  of 
great  social  importance,  yet  when  the  currents  of  thought 
which  caused  its  creation  are  understood  and  when  it  is 
realized  that  the  court  itself  in  its  organization  and  prac- 
tice has  caught  the  new  social  vision,  the  institution  of 
this  court  may  well  be  looked  upon  as  marking  the  point 
of  departure  between  the  merely  judicial  and  the  con- 
structively social  point  of  view  of  the  machinery  of  jus- 
tice. 

The  criminal  jurisdiction  of  the  Municipal  Court  has 
not  yet  been  very  much  developed.  It  is  concurrent  with 
the  older  courts  and  has  no  superior  facilities  for  the 
treatment  of  the  ordinary  adult  criminal. 

The  court  that  we  have  just  been  describing  is  a  new- 
ly created  one  and  may  be  considered  as  an  embellish- 
ment of  the  judicial  system,  of  which  the  main  structure 
is  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  This  court  has  juris- 
diction over  every  kind  of  civil  case  to  an  unlimited 
amount  in  value.  Its  territorial  jurisdiction  covers  a 
judicial  district.  Whenever  a  county  contains  forty 
thousand  inhabitants  or  more,  it  constitutes  a  judicial 
district  by  itself,  but  the  smaller  counties  are  grouped 

(6)   That  is,  as  far  as  is  possible.     The  State  is  woefully  deficient 
in  institutions  for  the  care  of  feebleminded  women. 


THE    COURTS.  135 

to  make  up  a  district.  Each  district  has  at  least  one 
judge  and  the  larger  districts  have  more,  according  to 
the  press  of  business  and  the  generosity  of  the  Legisla- 
ture. 

When  counties  are  large  enough  to  constitute  a  sepa- 
rate district  the  judges  must  be  learned  in  the  law — that 
is  to  say — ^must  be  lawyers.  In  the  smaller  counties 
there  still  lingers  the  quaint  fossil  of  an  ancient  reform. 
The  persistent  criticism  against  court  and  laAvyers  has 
always  been  that  they  lack  common  sense.  Accordingly, 
sometime  in  the  dim  past,  the  idea  was  broached  of  elect- 
ing a  layman  of  sound  judgment  to  sit  as  associate  judge 
and  illuminate  the  technical  opinions  of  the  law  judge 
with  the  dry  light  of  common  sense.  The  experiment 
did  not  commend  itself  in  practice  and  the  larger  com- 
munities with  real  business  to  transact  demanded  trained 
men.  The  present  Constitution  abolished  the  office  of 
associate  judge  except  for  counties  so  small  tliat  several 
are  required  to  make  up  a  judicial  district. 

The  Constitution  devotes  a  whole  section  '  to  the  or- 
ganization of  the  courts  of  common  pleas  of  Philadel- 
phia and  Allegheny  Counties  as  distinguished  from  the 
other  judicial  districts  of  the  State.  As  originally 
adopted,  Philadelphia  was  provided  with  four  distinct 
and  separate  courts  of  common  pleas  of  equal  and  co- 
ordinate jurisdiction.  Each  court  had  three  judges.  Al- 
legheny was  likewise  provided  with  two  separate  and 
distinct  courts  of  common  pleas,  also  with  three  judges 
apiece.  Provision  was  made  for  increasing  the  number 
of  courts  and  the  number  of  judges  by  the  Legislature. 
Such  increase  was  made  from  time  to  time,  until  Phila- 
delphia came  to  have  five  separate  courts  of  common 
pleas  of  three  judges  each,  and  Allegheny  County  four 
such  courts.  It  has  long  been  recognized  that  the  sepa- 
ration of  these  courts  from  one  another  instead  of  pro- 
(7)  Art.  V,  Sec.  6. 


136  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

viding  for  a  single  court,  with  as  many  judges  as  neces- 
sary, was  a  mistake.  Again  it  was  the  western  part  of 
the  State  which  secured  a  reformation  first,  and 
on  November  7,  1911,  an  amendment  was  adopted 
to  the  section  just  mentioned  providing  for  the 
merging  of  the  several  courts  of  common  pleas  in  Al- 
legheny County  into  one.  An  effort  was  made  in  the 
session  of  1913  to  merge  the  Philadelphia  courts  by  a 
statute.^  This  was  promptly  declared  unconstitutional.^ 
Since  then  Philadelphia  County  has  made  little  effort  to 
secure  the  necessary  constitutional  amendment  to  place 
it  on  a  par  with  Allegheny  County. 

The  criminal  law  is  administered  in  two  separate 
courts,  known  as  '^ Courts  of  Oyer  and  Terminer"  and 
''Courts  of  Quarter  Sessions  of  the  Peace  and  General 
Jail  Delivery."  These  courts  differ  from  each  other  in 
certain  technical  respects  not  necessary  of  treatment  in 
a  sketch  so  general  as  this,  but  the  judges  are  the  same 
men  in  each,  and  the  same  men  elected  judges  of  the 
Common  Pleas,  nor  is  there  any  separation  of  the  ma- 
chinery of  the  courts  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  from  the 
courts  of  Quarter  Sessions.  Although  the  judges  who 
sit  in  the  criminal  courts  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  com- 
mon pleas  judges,  the  criminal  courts  have  a  set  of  ma- 
chinery separate  from  the  common  pleas  courts.  The 
latter  courts  have  a  clerk  who  is  called  the  Prothonotary 
and  is  appointed  by  the  judges,  while  the  clerk  of  the 
criminal  court  is  called  the  Clerk  of  Quarter  Sessions 
and  is  elected  by  the  people.  While  it  is  possible  that 
in  the  dim  past  there  might  have  been  a  time  when  the 
people  thought  they  needed  the  protection  of  an  elected 
official  to  see  that  no  savage  judge  tampered  with  the 
records,  at  present  it  is  hard  to  see  the  reason  for  en- 

(8)  Act  June  11,  1913,  P.  L.  469. 

(9)  Bachman  vs.  McMichael,  242  Pa.  482. 


THE   COURTS.  137 

cumbering  the  ballot  with  the  election  of  a  clerk  of  quar- 
ter sessions. 

The  great  historic  division  of  the  civil  courts  of  Eng- 
land into  law  courts  and  chancery  courts  has  never  been 
followed  in  Pennsylvania.  This  is  probably  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  Chancery  Court,  or  Court  of  Equity, 
was  very  unpopular  at  the  time  when  Pennsylvania's 
system  w^as  fonning.  The  Court  of  Chancery  in  Eng- 
land originated  in  an  attempt  to  provide  for  justice  in 
cases  where  the  law  courts  could  not  or  would  not  give 
it.  Pennsylvania's  early  theory  was  to  make  a  law  court 
so  excellent  that  there  would  be  no  need  for  a  Chancery 
Court.  Accordingly  all  equitable  principles  were  to  be 
worked  out  through  common  law  forms.  Unfortunately 
for  this  scheme  the  chancery  procedure  was  really  the 
best,  and,  therefore,  was  the  heir  to  the  future.  Chan- 
cery powers  have  been  steadily  added  to  the  courts  of 
Common  Pleas  until  now  they  are  practically  full  fledged 
Chancery  Courts  as  well  as  courts  of  Common  Law,  and 
the  general  trend  in  the  evolution  of  practice  is  towards 
approximation  of  the  general  methods  of  chancery. 

Up  until  the  time  of  the  present  Constitution  the 
judges  of  the  Common  Pleas  held  also  the  Orphans' 
Court,  and  in  the  smaller  counties  they  do  so  still.  But 
as  with  the  growtli  of  wealth,  the  work  of  caring  judici- 
ally for  the  estates  of  the  deceased  became  very  great 
in  the  centres  of  population,  it  was  provided  that  in 
counties  of  more  than  one  liundred  and  fifty  thousand  in- 
habitants a  separate  court  should  be  erected  with  its 
own  judge  or  judges,  to  have  nothing  but  Orphans'  Court 
jurisdiction.  Where  the  work  is  specially  hea\y,  more 
than  one  Orphans'  Court  judge  is  provided.  Philadel- 
phia County  now  has  five,  and  Allegheny  County  has 
three. 

The  court  of  last  resort  in  Pennsylvania  is  the  Su- 
preme Court,  consisting  of  seven  judges  elected  by  the 


138  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

people  of  the  whole  State.  They  serve  for  twenty-one 
years  and  may  not  be  re-elected.  The  judge  oldest  in 
point  of  service  becomes  the  chief  justice,  so  each  judge 
on  this  bench  has  a  chance  of  holding  the  highest  judicial 
position  of  the  State.  The  organization  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania  in  this  respect  differs  from  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  whose  justices  are 
appointed  by  the  President  and  the  chief  justice  ap- 
pointed specifically  to  that  office.  In  the  high  court  of 
the  nation  mere  longevity  raises  no  claim  to  the  chief 
justiceship,  though  conspicuous  service  as  associate  jus- 
tice may  lead  to  that  advancement,  as  is  signally  illus- 
trated in  the  case  of  the  present  incumbent. 

In  the  early  history  of  the  State,  the  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court  were  accustomed  to  go  about  in  judicial 
districts  and  actually  try  the  cases  in  the  first  instance. 
Under  the  present  Constitution  the  Supreme  Court 
judges  do  not  do  this,  but  are  confined  almost  entirely  to 
appellate  work.^^  However,  the  court  does  not  always 
sit  in  the  same  place,  but  alternates  between  Harrisburg, 
Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh.  For  the  purpose  of  bring- 
ing appeals  the  State  is  divided  into  three  districts,  of 
which  the  cities  just  mentioned  are  the  respective  judicial 
capitals. 

That  malady  so  common  to  courts,  congested  dockets, 
has  not  spared  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  past.  At 
length  the  trouble  became  so  acute  that  the  Legislature 
set  out  to  find  a  remedy.  It  might  have  been  provided 
that  the  number  of  judges  should  be  increased,  but  the 
Legislature  chose  the  method  of  erecting  another  Ap- 

(10)  The  Supreme  Coui't  has  original  jurisdiction  in  cases  of 
injunction  where  a  corporation  is  a  party  defendent,  of  habeas 
corpus,  of  mandamus  to  courts  of  inferior  jurisdiction,  and  of  quo 
warranto  as  to  all  oflficers  of  the  Commonwealth  whose  jurisdiction 
extends  over  the  state,  but  such  cases  make  up  a  very  small  part  of 
the  business  of  the  Court. 

Const.  Art.,  Sec.  3. 


THE    COURTS.  139 

pellate  Court  to  have  jurisdiction  over  cases  of  less  im- 
portance. This  was  called  the  Superior  Court.  It  is  the 
court  of  last  resort  for  all  cases  that  come  within  the 
scope  of  its  jurisdiction  unless  the  Supreme  Court  es- 
pecially allows  appeals,  in  which  case  the  matter  goes 
from  the  Superior  Court  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

Although  a  reading  of  the  Constitution  would  show 
that  our  judges  are  elected,  yet  the  observer  of  affairs 
realizes  that  we  have  all  but  an  aj^pointive  judiciary,  for 
the  custom  has  grown  fixed,  especially  in  the  large  cities, 
of  re-electing  faithful  judges  irrespective  of  their  politi- 
cal affiliation,  and  since  the  Governor  is  charged  with 
filling  vacancies  when  these  occur  on  the  bench,  it  is 
usually  these  ad  interim  appointed  judges  who  become 
the  elected  judges  to  serve  term  after  terai.  The  elec- 
tion laws  of  the  State,  as  will  be  described  in  the  proper 
chapter,  have  also  been  modified  to  further  the  idea  of 
an  absolutely  non-partisan  judiciary.  Since  obedience 
to  law  is  the  cement  which  holds  together  the  structure 
of  society,  Pennsylvania  may  well  think  herself  fortu- 
nate that  the  character  and  ability  of  her  judges  has 
averaged  so  high. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


DIVISIONS    OF    THE    STATE. 


EVERY  citizen  understands  that  besides  the  State 
itself,  the  authority  of  whose  officers  extends  into 
every  corner  of  the  Commonwealth,  there  exists  a 
considerable  number  of  local  governing  bodies  with  vary- 
ing power  and  responsibility.  These  are  apt  to  be  con- 
sidered in  a  vague  sort  of  a  way  as  all  parts  of  '*the 
government"  and  all  of  the  same  nature,  but  they  are 
no  more  of  the  same  nature  than  the  potter  and  his  clay. 
Sovereignty  resides  in  the  State ;  the  city  and  the  county 
are  but  the  instruments  of  the  State  whereby  it  effects 
its  purposes  of  local  government.  The  local  bodies  can 
do  nothing  unless  some  authorization  from  the  State  can 
be  found.  The  difference  between  the  State  and  the  city, 
for  example,  is  aptly  illustrated  by  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two  classes  of  instruments  through  which  they 
express  their  will.  The  State  through  its  Legislature 
enacts  a  statute,  the  city  through  its  councils  adopts  an 
ordinance.  If  the  State  desires  to  punish  violations  of 
its  statutes,  it  may  make  such  violations  a  misdemeanor, 
so  that  the  machinery  of  the  criminal  law  may  be  invoked 
against  the  offender.  All  that  the  city  can  do,  however, 
is  to  assess  a  sum  of  money  in  the  nature  of  a  fine  against 
anyone  who  violates  the  ordinance.  The  violation,  how- 
ever, is  not  a  misdemeanor  and  cannot  be  punished  as 
a  crime.  Such  a  fine  is  merely  a  debt  due  the  city,  and 
must  be  collected  as  other  debts  are  collected.  If  the 
city  feels  that  this  method  of  enforcing  its  ordinances 
is  not  sufficiently  powerful,  the  only  way  in  which  the 
matter  can  be  mended  is  for  the  city  to  prevail  upon  the 
State  to  pass  a  statute  covering  the  matter  in  question. 

140 


DIVISIONS    OF    THE    STATE.  141 

A  good  illustration  of  this  is  the  law  against  spitting. 
There  had  long  been  various  ordinances  and  local  regu- 
lations against  spitting/  but  the  terrors  of  the  h)cal  ordi- 
nances had  not  been  sufficient  to  ensure  their  enforce- 
ment, consequently  a  State  law  was  passed  forbidding 
spitting  in  public,"  and  now  the  local  Boards  of  Health 
are  better  sustained  in  this  respect. 

The  various  local  governing  bodies  are  called  munici- 
pal corporations.  They  differ  greatly  among  themselves 
in  the  degree  in  which  they  are  organized,  and  the  im- 
portance of  their  functions.  Tlie  nature  of  a  municipal 
corporation  can  be  understood  by  comparison  with  the 
ordinary  business  corporation.  Both  are  artificial  per- 
sonalities which  draw  their  breath  of  life  from  the  State. 
The  powers  of  both  are  absolutely  dependent  upon  the 
powers  given  them  by  the  State.  The  business  corpora- 
tion is  organized  for  the  purpose  of  making  money  or 
for  effecting  some  private  charitable  purpose;  while  the 
municipal  corporation  is  organized  to  make  the  living 
together  of  numbers  of  people  more  comfortable.  The 
private  business  corporation  is  comparatively  a  modern 
invention,  and  arose  from  the  necessity  of  aggregating 
the  capital  of  a  number  of  adventurers  in  some  enter- 
prise which  was  too  costly  for  any  one  person  to  carry 
alone.  The  origin  of  the  municipal  corporation  is  lost 
in  the  mists  of  antiquity.  We  know  that  the  early  states 
of  Greece  were  simply  cities  with  a  small  section  of  coun- 
try immediately  surrounding  them.  We  know  that  the 
whole  Roman  Empire  sprang  from  the  city  on  the  seven 
hills.  In  the  turbulent  times  of  the  Middle  Ages,  many 
localities,  previously  not  incorporated,  extracted  char- 
ters from  the  local  feudal  magnate,  whatever  his  name 
might  be,  and  became  cities.  Some  of  them  owed  no  al- 
legiance to  any  ov(M-lord  and  were  known  as  free  cities. 

(1)  Ordinance  Marcli  0.  1903,  page  34. 

(2)  Act  May  11,  1909,  P.  L.  516. 


142  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

These  municipalities  played  an  important  part  in  the  de- 
velopment of  European  history.  If  a  city  claims  the 
right  of  existence  through  a  sovereignty  inherent  in  it- 
self, it  must  be  looked  upon  as  a  small  state,  but  when  it 
depends  upon  a  charter  of  right  and  immunity  from 
some  sovereign  body  it  is  a  municipal  corporation.-^ 

The  term  municipal  corporation  refers  by  no  means 
to  cities  alone.  The  State  has  many  different  kinds  of 
purposes  for  local  government,  and,  therefore,  needs 
many  agents.  Some  of  these  agents  have  more  complex 
work  to  do  than  others,  and  so  need  greater  and  more 
far-reaching  powers.  It  may  be  said  in  general  that,  as 
would  naturally  be  expected  to  be  the  case,  wherever  the 
population  is  larger,  the  duties  and  powers  of  the  munic- 
ipal corporation  will  be  greater. 

The  various  kinds  of  municipal  corporations  in  Penn- 
sylvania are  as  follows : 

Counties, 

Cities  of  the  First  Class, 

Cities  of  the  Second  Class, 

Cities  of  the  Third  Class, 

Boroughs, 

Incorporated  towns, 

Townships  of  the  First  Class, 

Townships  of  the  Second  Class, 

Poor  districts, 

School  districts. 


(3)  "A  corporation  is  a  legal  institution,  devised  to  confer  upon 
the  individuals  of  which  it  is  composed  powers^,  privileges,  and  immun- 
ities which  they  would  not  otherwise  possess,  the  most  important  of 
which  are  continuous  legal  identity  or  unity,  and  perpetual  or  indefinite 
succession  under  the  corporate  name,  not  with  successive  changes,  by 
death  or  otherwise,  in  the  corporators  or  members."  Commentaries  on 
the  Law  of  Municipal  Corporations.  By  John  F.  Dillon,  LL.  D.,  Fifth 
edition,  Boston,  1911,  p.  57. 

"A  municipal  corporation,  in  its  strict  and  proper  sense,  is  the 
body  politic  and  corporate  constituted  by  the  incorporation  of  the 
inhabitants  of  a  city  or  town  for  the  purpose  of  local  government 
thereof.  Municipal  corporations  as  they  exist  in  this  country  are 
bodies  politic  and  coii>orate  of  the  general  character  above  described, 
established  by  law  partly  as  an  agency  of  the  state  to  assist  in  the 


DIVISIONS    OF    THE    STATE.  143 

Of  each  of  these  we  must  say  a  few  words  in  turn, 
})iit  first  it  will  be  necessary  to  explain  in  wliat  way  they 
are  distributed  throughout  the  State  and  how  they  fit 
into  each  other  to  make  the  com])lete  Commonwealth. 
Several  of  these  municipal  corporations  exist  in  tlie  same 
place  at  the  same  time,  while  others  are  mutually  ex- 
clusive. It  may  make  the  comprehension  of  their  geo- 
graphical relationsliips  easier  if  we  cast  our  description 
into  visual  form.  Imagine  a  map  of  the  State,  perfectly 
white.  This  will  represent  the  all  pervasive  sway  of  the 
Commonwealth  reaching  eveiy  corner  of  the  State  ir- 
respective of  what  other  governmental  unit  may  exist 
in  any  part  of  it.  Then  if  we  draw  in  the  counties,  sixty- 
seven  of  them,  we  shall  see  that  there  is  no  point  which 
is  not  comprised  within  the  boundaries  of  some  county. 
Then  we  should  paint  in  the  cities,  representing  them  by 
points  of  brilliant  color.  In  the  single  case  of  Philadel- 
phia we  should  notice  that  the  city  occupies  the  entire 
territory  of  the  county,  but  in  the  case  of  all  other  cities 
we  should  find  them  entirely  within  the  borders  of  some 
county  and  leaving  considerable  territory  in  the  county 
not  within  the  bounds  of  the  city.  After  this  we  should 
indicate  upon  the  map  the  boroughs  and  incorpoi-ated 
towns.  Then,  filling  in  the  State  around  the  cities,  bor- 
oughs and  incorporated  towns,  and  completely  covering 
the  remainder  of  the  State,  come  the  townships.  By 
this  time  it  will  be  observed  that  every  citizen  is  buried 
under  a  triple  layer  of  government,  State,  county  and 
municipal,  but  more  is  to  come.  Tlie  fourth  layer  is  com- 
posed of  poor  districts  which  in  the  aggregate  cover  the 
State.  A  fifth  layer  is  composed  of  school  districts. 
Strictly  speaking  the  poor  districts  do  not  cover  the 
State,  for  their  functions  are  in   places   taken   over  ))y 


eh-il  ijoveniuient  of  the  country,  but  chiefly  to  regulate  and  administer 
the  hical  or  internal  affairs  of  the  city,  town  or  district  which  is  in- 
corp>orated."  ibid  p.  58. 


144  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

other  local  units,  usually  cities,  though  for  practical  pur- 
poses every  person  is  in  some  poor  district.  It  is  evi- 
dent now  that  each  citizen  is  subject  to  five  different 
kinds  of  governmental  units,  the  State,  the  county,  the 
municipality,  the  school  district  and  the  poor  district. 
Each  of  these  can  tax  him.  It  is  no  wonder  that  we  some- 
times think  our  government  is  complex.  It  is  clear,- how- 
ever, that  if  we  are  to  be  practical  in  our  citizenship  we 
must  have  a  fairly  sharp  idea  of  the  powers  and  duties 
of  the  various  units  of  which  the  government  is  com- 
posed. 

There  is  a  class  of  divisions  of  the  State  which  are 
sometimes  confused  with  municipal  corporations,  but 
which  are  in  reality  of  a  very  distinct  nature.  These 
divisions  are  not  corporations  at  all,  that  is  to  say,  they 
have  no  legal  personality  but  are  simply  places,  geo- 
graphical localities,  ordinarily  delineated  to  simplify 
some  governmental  function.  Nearly  every  administra- 
tive department  of  the  government  divides  the  territory 
under  its  control  in  a  way  that  will  best  suit  its  purposes. 
As  illustrations  of  these  geographical  districts  we  have 
congressional  districts.  State  senatorial  districts.  State 
representative  districts,  judicial  districts,  election  dis- 
tricts, and,  within  the  city,  we  have  such  districts  as 
wards,  police  districts,  fire  district's  and  any  number  of 
other  districts  created  by  the  local  administrative  de- 
partments. It  is  necessary  for  a  practical  citizen  to  fa- 
miliarize himself  with  every  kind  of  geographical  district 
in  which  he  lives,  for  his  activity  will  be  affected  in  some 
way  by  each,  but  it  is  impossible  in  a  book  of  the  general 
scope  of  this  to  enumerate  them.  We  desire  here  simply 
to  emphasize  the  radical  nature  of  the  difference  between 
the  geographical  district  and  the  municipal  corporation. 
Without  an  understanding  of  this  distinction  it  will  be 
difficult  to  comprehend  the  needs  of  the  municipal  cor- 
porations and  the  legislation  necessary  to  supply  them. 

We  shall  now  take  up  the  various  municipal  corpora- 
tions, beginning  with  the  county. 


CHAPTEH  XIll. 


COUNTIES. 


ONE  of  the  first  organizing  acts  of  Penn  and  his  first 
assembly  was  the  creation  of  three  counties,  Phil- 
adelphia, Chester  and  Bucks. ^  All  the  rest  of  the 
counties  in  the  State  are  descended  from  these  original 
three  by  a  process  of  budding,  or  fission,  familiar  to  the 
biologist. 

The  idea  of  the  county  was  familiar  to  the  colonists, 
as  it  was  an  English  institution  coming  down  from  early 
times.  The  unity  of  the  English  nation  was  achieved 
only  gradually,  and  the  counties  represent  sections  of 
the  country  which  once  enjoyed  considerable  independ- 
ence of  the  crown.  When  the  authority  of  the  king  was 
fully  established,  he  was  represented  by  two  chief  offi- 
cers, the  sheriif  and  the  coroner.  The  Sheriff  of  Not- 
tingham, that  oft  foiled  enemy  of  Eobin  Hood,  is  per- 
haps the  most  popularly  known  of  early  sheriffs.  The 
name  of  the  coroner  is  indicative  of  his  relation  to  the 
king,  for  coroner  is  from  the  Latin  word  meaning  a 
crown,  and  anciently  the  name  was  sometimes  corrupted 
to  **crowner"  as  may  be  seen  by  the  usage  of  Shakes- 
peare: 

First  Clown :  Is  she  to  be  buried  in  Christian  Burial, 
that  wilfully  seekes  her  own  salvation? 

Second  Clown :  I  tell  thee  she  is,  and  therefore  make 
her  grave  straight;  the  crowner  hath  sat  on  her  and 
finds  it  Christian  burial. - 

In  Pennsylvania  the  functions  of  the  county  have 
undergone  little  cliano'e  since  the  founding  of  the  State. 


(1)  A.  D.  1682.     See  Votes  of  the  Assembly.  Vol  I. 

(2)  Hamkt.  Act  V.  Scene  1. 

145 

10 


146  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

As  these  duties  are  almost  entirely  of  an  administrative 
nature,  but  a  very  simple  organization  is  required.  We 
have  shown  previously  that  the  judicial  system  is  a  State 
affair,  and  in  the  relation  of  the  judicial  system  to  the 
county  we  have  a  clear  example  of  the  way  in  which  the 
State  uses  the  local  municipal  corporations  for  the  pur- 
pose of  effecting  its  own  ends.  The  sheriff,  as  of  old, 
is  the  chief  officer  of  the  county,  and  he  is  the  arm  of 
the  court.  He,  in  person  or  through  his  deputies,  serves 
the  processes  and  executes  the  decrees  of  the  court.  He 
is  the  keeper  of  the  county  jail  and,  until  recently,^  he 
dropped  the  trap  that  swung  the  condemned  into 
eternity. 

The  coroner's  function  is  now  no  more  than  to  make 
a  preliminary  investigation  in  all  cases  of  death  where 
a  physician's  certificate  of  cause  is  not  available,  or 
where  there  seems  any  reason  to  suspect  a  crime  in  con- 
nection with  the  death.  He  can  bind  any  suspected  per- 
son over  for  court,  but  has  little  power  else.  If  for  any 
reason  a  sheriff  is  disqualified  to  act,  the  coroner  tem- 
porarily performs  his  functions. 

Other  county  officers  directly  connected  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  are  the  District  Attorney,  who  is 
the  representative  of  the  Commonwealth  in  criminal  mat- 
ters; the  Prothonotary,  who  is  the  clerk  of  the  Courts 
of  Common  Pleas  (also  in  Philadelphia  of  the  Municipal 
Court  and  in  Allegheny  County  of  the  County  Court) ; 
the  "Register  of  Wills,  who  besides  his  duty  of  register- 
ing wills,  granting  letters  of  administration,  etc.,  is  clerk 
of  the  Orphans'  Court;  the  clerk  of  Quarter  Sessions, 
who  is  the  clerk  of  the  Criminal  Court.  The  duties  of 
the  several  officers  just  described  illustrate  clearly  how 
the  State  works  through  the  county,  but  other  aspects 

(3)  Hanging  was  abolished  and  electrocution  substituted,  to  be 
carried  out  at  the  State  penitentiary  near  Bellefonte,  by  Act  June 
19,  1913,  P.  L.  528. 


COUNTIES.  147 

of  a  county  illustrate  its  nature  as  a  local  administrative 
unit.  The  executive  officers  of  a  county  are  the  County 
Commissioners,  of  whom  there  are  three,  elected  for  four 
years.  The  counties  do  not  have  any  distinctive  legis- 
lative machinery,  since  so  little  of  their  work  could  be 
called  legislative  that  there  is  no  use  for  a  legislative 
branch. 

In  the  provisions  for  the  election  of  County  Commis- 
sioners, we  have  one  of  the  clearest  illustrations  of  the 
theory  of  government  known  as  minority  representation, 
which  was  incorporated  as  an  experiment  into  the  pres- 
ent Constitution,  It  was  believed  that  if  a  member  of 
a  minority  party  were  always  to  sit  upon  every  board 
or  other  governing  body  consisting  of  more  than  one 
member,  an  effective  check  would  be  provided  against  the 
use  of  power  for  party  or  other  selfish  purpose.  The 
technical  way  in  which  this  minority  representation  is 
secured  is  by  providing  that  no  voter  shall  vote  for  the 
complete  number  of  officers  to  be  elected.  For  instance, 
in  the  case  of  the  three  County  Commissioners,  no  one 
can  vote  for  more  than  two.  Thus,  the  majority  party 
will  elect  two  members  of  the  board  and  the  party  next 
in  strength  will  elect  one  member.  This  method  is  also 
in  use  in  the  election  of  magistrates,  where  each  voter 
can  vote  for  only  two-thirds  of  the  total  number  to  be 
elected.  The  same  idea  appears  in  other  parts  of  our 
electoral  system. 

It  would,  perhaps,  be  saying  too  much  to  assert  that 
minority  representation  has  never  done  any  good.  No 
doubt  there  have  been  times  when  the  minority  member 
was  an  efficient  check  upon  the  majority,  but  there  has 
been  a  curious  reaction  which  could  not  have  been  fore- 
seen by  those  who  urged  upon  the  constitutional  conven- 
tion the  adoption  of  the  idea  of  minority  representation. 
In  this  State  the  usual  minority  party  had  for  a  long 
period  given  over  the  hope  of  becoming  itself  the  major- 


148  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

ity  party,  and,  therefore,  had  learned  to  expect  no  plums 
except  the  offices  which  come  to  it  by  virtue  of  the  princi- 
ple of  minority  representation.  Since  the  majority  party 
has  so  many  votes  to  spare,  it  had  no  difficulty  in  a  case, 
for  instance,  such  as  the  election  of  County  Commission- 
ers, in  sparing  enough  votes  to  determine  which  of  the 
three  candidates  of  the  minority  party  should  be  suc- 
cessful in  securing  the  one  position  open  to  them.  In 
this  way  it  obtained  practical  control  of  the  minority 
offices  also.  So  leaders  grew  up  in  the  minority  party 
who  owed  their  strength  to  the  votes  cast  in  their  inter- 
est by  the  majority  party  and,  while  their  nominal  al- 
legiance was  to  the  minority  party,  their  actual  allegi- 
ance was  to  those  to  wlioiii  tliey  owed  their  power.  Thus 
minority  representation,  which  was  intended  to  elevate 
the  conduct  of  public  office,  resulted  in  the  degradation 
of  minority  parties  and  in  the  creation  of  the  system  of 
bipartisan  bossism  which  is  so  disastrous  to  free  govern- 
ment. The  success  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  elec- 
tions of  1912  and  1916  has  changed  these  conditions  to 
a  considerable  degree  by  encouraging  the  hope  that  the 
Republican  majority  might  be  upset. 

The  work  of  the  County  Commissioners  which  im- 
poses the  greatest  amount  of  detail  is  in  connection  with 
the  elections,  which  are  organized  on  a  county  basis.  The 
County  Commissioners  prepare  and  distribute  the  bal- 
lots and  other  election  paraphernalia,  issue  watcher's 
certificates  and,  in  the  case  of  the  primary  election,  com- 
pute the  results  of  the  returns  made  by  the  election 
officers. 

The  County  Treasurer  is  the  fiscal  officer  of  the 
county.  His  accounts  are  audited,  in  the  case  of  the 
smaller  counties,  by  three  auditors,  and  in  the  larger 
counties,  by  a  comptroller.  The  chief  difference  between 
these  two  sets  of  offices  is  that  the  auditors  meet  once  a 
year  after  the  work  has  been  done  and  ask  the  question. 


COUNTIES.  149 

**Wliat  are  we  going  to  do  about  it?"  while  the  comp- 
troller is  at  work  all  the  time  and  may  stop  a  wrong  ex- 
penditure before  it  is  made. 

Counties  also  have  a  number  of  powers  and  duties 
which  are  very  similar  to  those  performed  by  other  kinds 
of  municipal  coi'porations.  They  build  and  maintain 
public  buildings,  usually  the  court  house  and  jail,  build 
and  repair  roads  and  bridges,  as  well  as  perform  a  num- 
ber of  minor  activities.  In  order  to  enable  them  to  carry 
out  their  powers  they  have  the  right  to  tax  and  also  to 
borrow  money  and  issue  bonds.  Philadelphia  County 
has  been  so  absorbed  and  overwhelmed  by  its  more  active 
associate,  the  city,  that  it  is  sometimes  hard  to  recognize 
the  functions  of  the  county.  For  example,  Philadelphia 
County  neither  taxes  nor  borrows  money,  but  is  entirely 
pro^dded  for  by  the  city.  It  is  not  for  that  reason  any 
less  a  county,  and  if  in  the  future  any  good  reason  should 
appear  why  it  should  perform  these  functions,  it  would 
be  easy  for  the  Legislature  to  give  it  the  requisite  author- 
ity. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CITIES. 

UP  from  the  Gulf  one  day  in  September,  1900, 
sprang  a  hurricane  and  wreaked  its  fury  on  the 
unoffending  city  of  Galveston.  Death  and  de- 
struction followed  in  its  wake,  yet  it  brought  a  great 
benefaction  to  the  country.  Truly  ''out  of  the  eater 
came  forth  meat,  and  out  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweet- 
ness." The  shock  of  the  Galveston  disaster  was  the 
motive  power  for  the  introduction  of  modern  forms  of 
city  government.  A  decade  and  a  half  later  a  second 
furious  outburst  of  nature  beat  at  the  gates  of  Galves- 
ton, but  there  stood  the  mighty  concrete  wall,  the  product 
of  Galveston's  former  experience  worked  out  by  its  re- 
created government.  The  city  still  endures  as  founded 
upon  a  rock. 

The  immediate  success  in  Galveston  of  its  commis- 
sion form  of  government  caused  the  introduction  into 
many  other  cities,  not  only  in  Texas  but  throughout  the 
whole  United  States,  of  a  similar  system.  The  essential 
characteristics  of  the  commission  form  of  government 
have  been  described  by  a  recent  writer  as  follows:^ 

(I.)   The  small  number  of  officers  constituting  the  governing 

body. 
(11.)   Their  election  by  the  whole  body  of  voters,  instead  of  by 
wards, 
(m.)   The  exercise  of  administrative   oversight   and  broad  ap- 
pointing power,  as   well   as   legislative    authority    by   the 
board; 
(IV.)    The  assignment  of  each  commissioner  to  be  the  head  of  a 
definite  department,  for  the  conduct  of  which  he  is  re- 
sponsible to  the  commission  and  to  the  people;  and 
(V.)  The  "checks"  designed  to  assure  direct  popular  control. 

(1)  Ernest    S.    Bradford,    Ph.  D.,    Commission    (xovemment    in 
American  Cities,  New  York,  The  MacMillan  Company,  1911,  p.  129. 

150 


CITIES.  151 

These  "checks"  may  be  few  or  many,  ran^ng  from  the 
simple  publicity  in  the  Galveston  plan,  and  a  referendum 
on  bond  issues  only,  already  provided  by  state  law ;  to  the 
refei'endum  on  all  ordinances,  the  initiative,  n-call.  non- 
partisan primaries  and  elections,  a  civil  service  commission, 
and  various  specific  prohibitions  as  in  the  more  recent 
charters  of  Des  Moines,  and  other  municipalities. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  note  that  as  Pennsylvania 
comes  to  alter  the  charters  of  her  various  classes  of 
cities  she  gradually  introduces  more  and  more  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  commission  form  of  gov- 
ernment. The  cities  of  the  first  class  have  the  oldest 
form  of  government.  Their  charter  long  antedates  the 
experience  of  Galveston,  and  none  of  the  ideas 
worked  out  there  can  be  found  in  it.  The  govern- 
ment of  cities  of  the  second  class  was  radically  altered 
in  1911  and  shows  very  distinctly  the  commission  idea  in 
the  single  small  council.  It  was  the  desire  of  those  who 
urged  the  change  that  all  of  the  other  features  of  the 
commission  form  of  government  should  be  included,  but 
Pennsylvania's  conservatism  prevented  that.  As  a  step 
in  advance,  however,  the  small  council  in  cities  of  the 
second  class  is  interesting  and  useful.  Cities  of  the  third 
class  have  been  reconstructed  by  very  recent  legislation 
and  here  we  find  an  almost  complete  exemplification  of 
the  commission  form  of  government.  In  describing  these 
various  classes  of  cities  we  will  follow  the  chronological 
order  and  describe  the  oldest  and  worst  first,  progress- 
ing towards  the  light  in  cities  of  the  second  class  and 
finally  emerging  in  the  blaze  of  day  when  describing 
cities  of  the  third  class.  Thus  we  can  close  the  discus- 
sion with  a  feeling  akin  to  exhilaration,  for  nothing  en- 
courages hope  like  a  feeling  that  we  are  pointed  in  the 
right  direction.  No  serious  effort  seems  to  have  been 
made  in  this  State  to  go  the  whole  way  and  introduce 
the  city  manager  plan,  which  is  an  improvement  on  the 
commission  plan  for  the  same  reasons  that  the  commis- 


152  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

sion  plan  is  an  improvement  over  the  large  councils  sys- 
tem. However,  an  interesting  beginning  has  been  made 
in  the  case  of  boroughs,  whose  councils  are  empowered 
to  create  the  office  of  Borough  Manager.^ 

Students  of  American  government  have  long  recog- 
nized that  the  cities  are  the  weakest  spots  in  our  govern- 
mental system.  Various  reasons  can  be  advanced  for 
our  failure  to  achieve  success  in  this  particular  line  of 
governmental  activity.  Without  question  our  unintelli- 
gent habit  of  governing  cities  by  means  of  parties  based 
on  national  issues  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  it.  In 
the  course  of  time,  as  the  political  education  of  the  peo- 
ple advances,  we  shall  doubtless  get  away  from  this  diffi- 
culty, but  there  is  an  important  obstacle  to  efficient  mu- 
nicipal government  which  is  not  a  matter  of  ingrained 
political  habit,  and  which  can  be  cured  by  mere  statu- 
tory and  constitutional  changes.  And  just  because  this 
obstacle  can  be  overcome  with  such  comparative  ease, 
it  is  all  the  more  necessary  that  it  should  be  thoroughly 
understood.  This  obstacle  is  the  deep  seated  misconcep- 
tion of  the  nature  of  a  city  and  of  the  powers  which  it 
needs  for  the  proper  discharge  of  its  functions.  Like 
many  other  misconceptions  it  is  not  even  self -consistent. 
On  one  side  the  false  analogy  is  formed  between  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  cities  and  of  the  State.  Consequently, 
we  find  the  government  provided  for  the  cities  elabor- 
ately imitating  the  State  government,  with  legislative 
and  executive  branches,  bills  on  first,  second  and  third 
reading,  vetoes,  messages  from  the  executive  to  the  legis- 
lative branch,  and  many  other  pieces  of  machinery  which 
are  thoroughly  in  place  in  the  government  of  a  mighty 
Commonwealth,  but  entirely  out  of  place  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  a  municipality.  The  second  branch  of  the  mis- 
conception seems  strangely  contradictory  to  the  first. 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  city  is  supposed  to 

(2)  Act  June  23,  1917,  P.  L. 


CITIES.  153 

resemble  a  State  closely,  it  is  rigidly  circuiiiscribcd  in 
action.  The  State  in  a  niggardly  way  doles  out  to  its 
cities  a  very  restricted  corporate  power,  and  frequently 
great  campaigns  have  to  be  waged  in  order  to  convince 
members  of  the  Legislature  who  come  from  country  dis- 
tricts and  have  little  interest  in  city  affairs,  of  the  advis- 
ability of  certain  local  regulations.  It  is  true  that  Penn- 
sylvania in  this  respect  is  by  no  means  as  badly  off  as 
many  other  States,  and  it  is  also  true  that  there  has  l)een 
a  constant  tendency  towards  municipal  home  rule,  ])ut 
the  goal  is  still  very  far  off.'' 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  cities  are  but  corporations,  and 
the  same  general  principles  of  administration  which  have 
been  found  successful  in  great  business  corporations  of 
the  country  are  equally  applicable  to  the  government  of 
cities.  They  may  be  summed  up  briefly  as  follows  :  That 
the  actual  administrative  work  should  be  done  by  ex- 
perts ;  that  responsibility  should  be  concentrated  and  ac- 
companied with  adequate  power;  and  that  the  general 
direction  of  policy  should  be  in  the  hands  of  a  small 
board  elected  by  the  people  interested.  These  principles 
are  aimed  at  in  the  commission  form  of  government  and 
best  secured  in  the  form  providing  for  a  small  council 
and  a  city  manager. 

Before  beginning  a  description  of  the  various  kinds 
of  cities,  it  will  be  worth  while  to  say  a  word  about  the 
reason  for  the  classification  of  cities,  and  the  basis  upon 
which  it  is  made.  The  Constitution  forbids  the  passage 
of  local  or  special  legislation  governing  the  affairs  of 
cities,^  but  it  was  soon  found  that  the  needs  of  the  dif- 
ferent cities  were  so  different  that  the  greatest  hard- 


(3)  For  instance,  when  a  city  wants  to  do  so  natural  a  municipal 
act  as  to  ^ive  money  to  a  historical  association,  or  provide  music  for 
its  citizens,  it  must  get  jmwer  from  the  legislature.  Act  March  31, 
1915,  P.  L.  36.    Act  April  5.  1017.  P.  L. 

(4)  Const.  Art.  Til,  Sec.  5. 


154  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ship  would  be  entailed  if  none  but  laws  of  general  ap- 
plication could  be  passed.  Consequently  the  Legislature 
adopted  the  scheme  of  separating  the  cities  into  classes 
and  legislating  for  them  by  passing  laws  applicable  to 
a  whole  class.  If  it  should  so  happen  that  there  was  but 
a  single  city  in  a  class,  legislation,  although  general  in 
theory,  would  be  for  all  practical  purposes  special  and 
local  for  that  city. 

The  first  classification  act  ^  divided  the  cities  into 
three  classes,  and  was  held  to  be  constitutional,^  but 
later  when  the  Legislature  tried  to  carry  the  scheme 
further  and  divide  the  cities  into  seven  classes,  the  Su- 
preme Court  called  a  halt.'  The  classification  act  now  in 
force  ^  divides  the  cities  into  three  classes,  as  follow^s : 

Those  containing  a  population  of  one  million  or  over 
constitute  the  first  class ; 

Those  containing  a  population  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand and  under  one  million  constitute  the  second  class ; 

Those  containing  a  population  under  one  hundred 
thousand  constitute  the  third  class. 

Wordsworth's  little  girl  who,  though  alone,  insisted, 
''We  are  seven,"  is  suggestive  of  the  situation  of  Phila- 
delphia, which  is  ''Cities  of  the  first  class."  In  the  sec- 
ond class  matters  are  not  much  better,  as  this  contains 
but  the  two  cities  of  Pittsburgh  and  Scranton.  Origi- 
nally there  w^ere  three,  but  when  Pittsburgh  swallowed 
up  Allegheny,  the  number  was  reduced  by  one-third. 
Even  the  «mall  number  of  two  cities  in  a  class  is  sufficient 
to  illustrate  the  difficulty  of  general  legislation,  for 
Pittsburgh  is  continually  demanding  and  getting  legis- 

(5)  Act  of  May  23,  1874,  P.  L.  230. 

(6)  Wheeler  vs.  Philadelphia,  77,  Pa.  338. 

(7)  Act  April  11,  1876,  P.  L.  20.  Act  May  24,  1887,  P.  L.  204. 
Ayar's  Appeal,  122,  Pa.  266.  Kuan  Street,  132,  Pa.  257.  King  vs. 
Philadelphia  Co.  154,  Pa.  160. 

(8)  Act  June  25,  1895,  P.  L.  275. 


CITIES.  155 

lation  which  is  useful  to  it  but  proves  a  burden  to  the 
much  smaller  city  of  Scranton. 

Dropping  the  cumbrous  title  of  cities  of  the  first  class, 
we  shall  now  proceed  to  give  a  brief  description  of  the 
government  of  Philadelphia. 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

CITIES    OF    THE    FIEST    CLASS. 

JF  we  were  to  make  an  inquiry  for  the  charter  of  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  w^e  would  not  find  any  single 
document  that  corresponds  to  that  name.  When 
Penn  founded  the  city  he  gave  it  several  charters  in  suc- 
cession, and  those  documents  carry  out  all  the  popular 
ideas  of  a  charter ;  but  since  then  there  has  been  a  great 
mass  of  legislation  moulding  the  form  of  the  government 
of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and  it  is  all  this  taken  to- 
gether which  is  meant  when  we  speak  of  its  charter.  The 
bulk  of  this  legislation  is  comprised  in  what  is  known 
as  the  Bullitt  Act,^  named  after  the  illustrious  lawyer 
who  framed  it.  There  is  no  question  at  all  but  that  the 
Bullitt  Act  was  a  great  step  in  advance  over  the  dis- 
jointed and  heterogeneous  form  of  government  under 
which  Philadelphia  had  previously  suffered,  but  it  is 
one  of  the  most  perfect  examples  on  record  of  that  mis- 
conception of  which  we  have  already  spoken  which  con- 
siders a  city  as  parallel  in  form  of  government  with  a 
State.  It  provides  a  Common  and  Select  branch  of 
Councils,  elegantly  imitating  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives and  the  Senate,  and  the  imitation  of  the  United 
States  Senate  by  Select  Council  is  carried  far  enough  to 
copy  even  the  unequal  method  of  representation,  for 
while  members  of  Common  Council  are  apportioned  ac- 
cording to  population,  the  members  of  Select  Council 
are  distributed  one  to  each  ward,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  one  w^ard  may  be  fifteen  times  as  large  as  an- 
other. This  unequal  representation  which  originated  as 
a  practical  compromise  between    the    large    and    small 

(1)   Act  June  1,  1885,  P.  L.  37. 
156 


CITIES  OF  THE  FIRST  CLASS.  157 

States  in  the  formation  of  the  national  ^-ovornnient  has 
trickled  down  into  the  government  of  Philadelphia.  The 
Governor,  or  President,  is  closely  paralleled  by  the  May- 
or, who  has  similar  powers  of  veto  and  is  ecjually  cut 
off  from  effective  co-operation  with  the  legislative  branch 
of  government.  Councils  practically  originate  nothing, 
as  all  the  skilled  work  is  done  by  the  various  heads  of 
departments,  but,  as  nearly  every  act  of  the  city  requires 
the  passage  of  an  ordinance,  councils  are  continually  in 
a  position  in  which  they  are  able  to  obstruct  anything 
they  do  not  like.  The  number  of  members  is  so  large 
that  it  is  difficult  to  fix  responsibility  upon  any  particular 
member.  Thus  we  have  the  unfortunate  situation  of  al- 
most unlimited  power  coupled  with  no  responsibility. 
Unless  Councils  and  the  Mayor  agree  as  to  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  city,  nothing  can  be  done,  since  neither 
has  power  enough  to  do  anything  alone.  Members  can- 
not be  made  to  feel  any  general  responsibility  and,  on 
account  of  pressure  from  local  constituents,  there  is  a 
constant  tendency  for  Councils  to  degenerate  into  a  body 
of  log  rollers,  each  member  in  a  scramble  to  see  what  he 
can  get  for  his  own  ward.  As  a  matter  of  fact  almost 
all  the  work  of  ruling  the  city  is  purely  administrative 
in  its  nature,  and  does  not  require  the  services  of  a  man 
with  a  commission  direct  from  the.  people.  A  great  mass 
of  councilmanic  work  consists  in  opening  streets,  pro- 
viding for  sewers  and  in  work  of  a  similar  nature  which 
must  be  done  with  an  eye  to  the  benefit  of  the  city  as  a 
whole.  A  newly  elected  member  of  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  would  find  the  board 
occupied  in  discussing  the  policies  of  the  company,  and 
he  would  be  considerably  amazed  should  the  same  body 
of  men  turn  their  attention  to  deciding  the  exact  loca- 
tion of  each  semaphore,  but  members  of  council  are  ex- 
pected to  take  a  benevolent  interest  in  the  placing  of  each 
lamp  post. 


158  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  legislative  branch  of  the  Philadelphia  city  gov- 
ernment consist's  of  two  chambers,  Select  and  Common 
Council,  and  procedure  in  these  bodies  must  be  as  formal 
as  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State  itself.  -  Representa- 
tion in  Common  Council  is  based  upon  the  population  of 
the  various  wards,  each  4,000  names  upon  the  assessors^ 
list  giving  right  to  one  member.  Select  Council  is  made 
up  of  one  representative  from  each  ward,  and  like  the 
Senate,  has  the  right  to  advise  the  Mayor  on  the  ap- 
pointment of  any  of  the  heads  of  departments  and  to 
give  or  withhold  consent.  In  one  respect  there  is  an 
interesting  variation  between  Councils  and  its  models, 
the  State  and  national  Legislatures.  There  is  no  official 
to  represent  the  Vice-President  or  the  Lieutenant  Gover- 
nor, no  vice  or  assistant  Mayor.  Beyond  this  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  discover  any  respect  in  which  the  city  government 
does  not  imitate,  or  at  least  try  to  imitate,  that  of  the 
State  and  nation.  As  we  have  already  described  at  con- 
siderable length  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  we  may 
dismiss  the  Councils  of  Philadelphia  by  saying  that  they 
are  close  imitations,  but  that  they  have  less  importance 
as  they  have  not  the  broad  range  of  vital  questions  to 
consider  which  come  before  the  State  Legislature. 

In  the  executive  department  also  the  city  government 
is  closely  imitative  of  the  State  government,  but  we  can- 
not dismiss  it  in  the  same  way  as  we  have  Councils  since, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  work  of  a  city  is  usually  very  dif- 
ferent from  that  of    the    State    and    requires    different 

(2)  "No  ordinance  shall  be  passed  through  Councils  except  by 
bill.  No  bill  shall  be  so  altered  or  amended  on  its  passage  through 
either  branch  as  to  change  its  original  purpose.  No  bill  shall  be  con- 
sidered unless  referred  to  a  committee,  returned  therefrom  and  printed 
for  the  use  of  members,  and  no  bill  shall  be  passed  containing  any- 
more than  one  subject  which  shall  be  clearly  expressed  in  its  title." 
Act  May  23,  1874,  P.  L.  230,  Sec.  3. 

Sec.  4  of  the  same  Act  contains  more  provisions  of  the  same 
nature,  all  of  them  evidently  copied  from  the  constitutional  provisions- 
governing  the  legislature  or  from  the  rules  of  that  body. 


CITIES  OF  THE  FIRST  CLASS.  159 

officers  to  carry  it  on.  If  the  imitation  had  been  complete 
we  should  probably  have  had  a  Secretary  of  the  City, 
Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs,  Secretary  of  Agricul- 
ture, etc.'' 

Instead  of  this  the  executive  work  of  the  city  is  i)ar- 
celled  out  among  eleven  executive  departments.  The  heads 
of  these  departments  correspond  closely  to  cabinet  offi- 
cers and  are  required  to  meet  with  the  Mayor  once  every 
month.    The  departments  are  as  follows  : 

Department  of  Public  Safety, 
Department  of  Public  Works, 
Department  of  Receiver  of  Taxes, 
Department  of  City  Treasurer, 
Department  of  City  Controller, 
Department  of  Law, 
Department  of  Supplies, 
Department  of  Public  Health  and  Charities, 
Department  of  Wharves,  Docks  and  Ferries, 
Department  of  City  Transit. 
Sinking  Fund  Commission. 

The  Department  of  Public  Safety  manages  tlie  most 
obvious  part  of  the  city  government,  for  it  controls  the 
most  visible  of  the  city  employees,  police  and  firemen,  al- 
though policing  and  fire  qneiiching  do  not  exhaust  its 
activities.  Its  work  is  divided  among  seven  bureaus, 
viz.:  Police,  fire,  electrical,  building  inspection,  boiler 
inspection,  correction  and  elevator  inspection. 

Next  in  point  of  general  interest  comes  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Works.  This  also  is  organized  by 
bureaus.  The  Bureau  of  City  Property  has  charge  of 
the  immense  amount  of  real  estate  owned  by  the  cit}''  it- 
self, City  Hall,  Independence  Hall  and  numerous  mar- 
kets, parks  and  squares.  The  Bureau  of  Highways  only 
lays  down  and  repairs  streets  and  roads,  and  the  Bureau 
of  Street  Cleaning  keeps  them  clean  and  removes  ashes 

(3)  The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  would  not  be  so  absurd,  since 
in  value  of  agricultural  produce  the  County  of  Philadelphia  compares, 
well  with  any  other  County.  See  various  reports  of  the  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  of  Pennsylvania. 


160  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

and  domestic  waste.  In  the  most  literal  sense  this 
bureau  comes  home  to  the  householder,  and  much  of  his 
idea  of  municipal  efficiency  is  based  on  what  he  sees  of 
its  activity.  The  Bureau  of  Gas  has  charge  of  the  techni- 
cal side  of  watching  over  the  city's  interests  in  the  mat- 
ter of  the  gas  works  which  belong  to  it  and  which  are 
now  leased  to  the  United  Gas  Improvement  Company. 
The  Bureau  of  Lighting  attends  to  the  street  lights.  The 
Bureau  of  Surveys  has  charge  of  the  city  plan.  It  is 
seldom  recognized  what  an  enormous  amount  of  survey- 
ing work  is  involved  in  laying  out  and  grading  the 
streets,  building  sewers  and  giving  property  lines  to  real 
estate  owners.  This  bureau  is  little  before  the  public, 
but  the  city  would  soon  be  in  a  fearful  snarl  without  it. 
Probably  the  most  vital  and  constant  necessity  of  the 
people  is  the  water  supply.  The  provision  for  this  is 
under  the  charge  of  the  Bureau  of  Water.  The  pumping 
and  purification  of  sufficient  water  for  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia is  a  great  manufacturing  business  and  calls  for 
the  highest  skill  as  well  as  the  most  unremitting  atten- 
tion, since  accidents  are  likely  to  happen  at  any  time 
and  some  quiet  street  corner  be  transformed  in  an  instant 
into  a  geyser  rivalling  Old  Faithful. 

Philadelphia  is  an  enormous  buyer  of  material,  but 
for  many  years  was  not  able  to  enjoy  to  the  fullest  ex- 
tent the  economy  that  may  be  obtained  by  purchasing  in 
bulk.  Until  comparatively  recently  every  department 
purchased  its  own  material,  but  since  the  establishment 
of  the  Department  of  Supplies  ^  most  of  the  purchases 
of  the  city  are  made  by  it.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
an  appreciable  saving  has  been  made  in  this  way. 

The  growing  realization  of  the  responsibility  of  the 
government  for  the  health  of  the  citizens  which  resulted 
in  the  State  in  the  creation  of  the  Department  of  Health, 
is  represented  in  the  city  by  the  Department  of  Public 


(4)  Act  April  4,  1903,  P.  L.  153. 


CITIES  OF  THE  FIRST  CLASS.  161 

Health  and  Charities.  This  department  comprises  two 
bureaus,  that  of  Health  and  that  of  Charities,  corres- 
ponding to  the  two  branches  of  its  activities. 

The  city  of  Philadelphia,  as  well  as  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, has  been  very  slow  in  awakening  to  the  value 
of  the  situation  of  Philadelphia  as  a  seaport.  For  a  long 
time  the  fact  that  almost  all  the  water  front  was  con- 
trolled by  property  owners,  chief  of  whom  were  the  rail- 
roads, prevented  the  city  from  developing  adequate 
wharfage  facilities.  By  the  creation  of  the  Department 
of  Wharves,  Docks  and  Ferries  and  the  clothing  of  the 
city  with  the  right  of  eminent  domain  over  water  front 
property,  it  is  rapidly  acquiring  a  system  of  modern 
wharves  available  for  all  commerce.  When  the  extensive 
system  of  w^harves  and  docks  now  under  w^ay  is  com- 
pleted, Philadelphia  as  a  seaport  wdll  bear  comparison 
with  any  other  in  the  world. 

The  baby  among  the  departments  is  the  Department 
of  City  Transit.  Philadelphia  has  lagged  far  behind  the 
other  big  cities  in  the  matter  of  adequate  transit  facili- 
ties and  city  regulation  of  the  companies  supplying  this 
service.  It  has  long  been  apparent  that  something  must 
be  done,  and  a  wise  beginning  was  made  Avhen  the  Legis- 
lature ^  equipped  the  city  with  a  full  department  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  handling  the  question  from  the  city's 
point  of  view.  Already  a  comprehensive  system  of  un- 
derground and  overhead  rapid  transit  is  under  construc- 
tion, and  eventually  the  city  will  be  bound  together  in  all 
its  parts  by  cheap  and  swift  means  of  comnumication, 
and  there  will  follow  an  expansion  of  the  city  whicli 
will  forever  confirm  its  proud  boast  to  be  the  City  of 
Homes. 

Of  the  Departments  of  Receiver  of  Taxes,  of  City 
Treasurer  and  of  City  Controller  it  is  not  necessai-y  to 
speak  at  length,  as  tlioir  mere  names  indicate  sufficiently 

(sTAct  May  9, 1913,  P.  L.  188. 
11 


162  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  scope  of  their  duties,  but  one  peculiar  fact  about  the 
City  Treasurer  and  City  Controller  should  be  mentioned. 
They  are  called  the  City  Treasurer  and  City  Controller. 
They  are  made  heads  of  the  Departments  of  City  Treas- 
urer and  City  Controller  by  the  Bullitt  Act,  and  yet  they 
are  not  city  officers,  but  officers  of  the  County  of  Phila- 
delphia.^ 

The  analogy  between  a  city  and  a  State  breaks  down 
again  when  we  begin  to  look  for  a  judicial  department 
in  the  city.  Since  the  city  is  not  a  State,  it  can  have  no 
real  judicial  department,  but  the  Department  of  Law 
carries  out  as  far  as  possible  the  idea  of  a  judiciary.  Pri- 
marily, the  City  Solicitor  is  the  city's  attorney,  repre- 
senting it  and  each  of  its  departments.  Consequently 
his  opinion  has  all  the  force  of  law  unless  overruled  by 
an  actual  judicial  decision. 

The  Sinking  Fund  Commission  has  charge  of  the 
funds  set  aside  to  meet  the  city  bonds  at  maturity. 

Having  mentioned  the  departments,  we  must  say 
something  about  several  city  activities  which  do  not  come 
under  any  of  them. 

A  recent  addition  to  the  functions  of  the  city  is  the 
Art  Jury."  This  is  the  bulwark  of  the  city  against  bad 
art.  Official  art  has  never  been  held  in  very  high 
esteem,  but  in  the  past  not  much  else  could  have  been 
expected,  for  those  in  charge  of  the  execution  of  public 
works  were  usually  chosen  for  other  capabilities  than 
sensitiveness  to  esthetic  impressions.  Still,  if  the  city 
selects  unesthetic  administrators,  it  might  be  said  that 
it  should  abide  by  the  result,  but  liow  could  it  protect 
itself  against  the  dying  collector?  Since  the  creation  of 
the  Art  Jury  no  work  of  art  can  become  the  property 
of  the  city  by  purchase,  gift  or  otherwise,  without  its 
design  and  its  proposed    location   having    received    the 

(6)  Boniiell  vs.  Philadelphia,  48  Pa.  Supr.  Ct.  456.     Tag-oart   w 
Com.  102  Pa.  354. 

(7)  Act  May  25,  1907,  P.  L.  249. 


CITIES  OF  THE  FIRST  CLASS.  163 

stamp  of  approval  of  the  Art  Jury.  As  membership  in 
the  Art  Jury  carries  with  it  no  emoluments,  it  is  hoped 
that  the  bread-and-butter  brigade  can  be  made  to  observe 
its  distance. 

A  minor  activity  of  the  city,  yet  one  which  is  clearly 
indicative  of  the  increasing  care  of  the  city  for  the  com- 
fort and  happiness  of  its  citizens  is  tlie  Board  of  Recre- 
ation.'^ This  Board  is  composed  of  the  Mayor,  Director 
of  Public  Health  and  Charities  and  five  citizens.  It  has 
charge  of  the  city 's  playgrounds,  recreation  centres,  pub- 
lic baths,  and  similar  matters. 

There  is  one  branch  of  the  city's  government  that 
needs  sympathetic  description  because  it  is  the  least 
understood  yet  the  most  blamed,  tlie  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission. That  an  army,  the  armed  servant  of  the  State, 
can  make  itself  master  of  the  State  was  known  at  least 
as  far  back  as  the  time  of  the  Pretorian  guards,  and  an 
army  master  has  been  feared  by  free  peoples  ever  since. 
It  has  remained  for  modern  times  to  bring  to  full  flower 
a  system  whereby  the  civilian  servants  of  the  State  have 
banded  themselves  together  to  rule  it.  This  is  the  most 
sinister  of  the  problems  which  have  given  rise  to  the 
need  for  civil  service  reform,  although  always  accom- 
panying it  is  the  problem,  important  enough  in  itself,  of 
how  to  get  for  the  people  a  fair  return  in  industry  and 
ability  for  the  wages  paid.  It  is  bad  enough  in  a  free 
country  to  be  ruled  by  any  selfish  combination,  but  there 
is  something  particularly  galling  in  the  rule  of  a  set  of 
men  who  are  paid  for  service  and  protection.  It  is  bad 
enough  to  be  taxed,  but  to  have  taxes  wasted  in  in- 
efficient service  while  the  servants  give  their  time 
and  energy  to  fastening  themselves  and  their  kind 
continually  on  the  taxpayer,  heaps  injury  on  in- 
jury.      Both     the     evils      of      officeholder      i*ule      and 


(8)  Act  June  9,  1911,  P.  L.  739.    Amended  by  Act  May  3,  1917, 
P.  L. 


164  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

official  incompetency  flow  from  the  same  weakness 
in  our  system  of  managing  public  affairs,  tlie 
fact  that  the  test  which  is  applied  in  the  selection  of  pub- 
lic servants  is  irrelevant  to  the  work  to  be  performed. 
Even  in  electing  to  office  the  motives  of  the  voter  fre- 
quently have  little  connection  with  the  question  of  the 
fitness  of  the  candidate  for  the  work  in  hand,  but  in  ap- 
pointing there  has  grown  up  in  the  country  a  thoroughly 
worked  out  method,  with  a  philosophy  of  its  own,  known 
as  the  spoils  system.  This  system  and  its  battle  cry  is 
so  familiar  to  and  so  heartily  believed  in  by  practical 
politicians  that  when  a  doubt  is  expressed  as  to  its  pro- 
priety, they  feel  that  they  have  triumphantly  annihilated 
the  doubter  by  announcing,  *'To  the  victors  belong  the 
spoils."  The  evil  of  this  system  is  apparent  in  its  name. 
No  office  could  be  considered  in  the  light  of  spoils  unless 
its  emoluments  were  greater  than  the  encumbent  could 
command  in  the  competitive  market.  A  thousand  dollars 
a  year  job  would  seem  rich  spoils  to  a  man  unable  to 
earn  more  than  two  dollars  a  day  otherwise;  but  a  ten 
thousand  dollar  a  year  job  would  not  look  like  spoils  to 
a  leader  in  the  engineering  profession.  The  spoils  system 
confesses  in  its  name  that  it  proposes  to  fill  all  the  offices 
with  men  below  the  standard  set  by  the  market  of  the 
business  world.  It  also  confesses  that  the  way  to  secure 
office  is  not  by  fitting  one 's  self  for  it  but  by  becoming  a 
successful  warrior. 

The  remedy  for  the  situation  is  plain.  To  substitute 
as  a  test  for  office  holding  something  that  will  be  rele- 
vant; to  raise  the  slogan,  *'To  the  worthy  shall  be  given 
an  opportunity  to  serve."  To  discover  who  are  worthy — 
ah!  there's  the  rub.  To  ask  each  applicant  whether  he 
were  fit  would  be  to  rule  out  only  the  modest,  a  most  un- 
fortunate discrimination.  Obviously  the  best  method  is 
to  throw  the  burden  upon  the  applicant  of  proving  that 
he  is  fit,  and  to  make  him  so  prove  by  actually  doing  some 


CITIES  OF  THE  FIRST  CLASS. 


165 


of  the  work  which  his  position  will  require.  Of  course, 
if  there  are  more  applicants  than  places,  tlie  best  should 
be  chosen.  To  state  it  more  concretely,  the  applicant 
should  be  examined  as  to  his  fitness  and  his  examination 
should  be  strictly  germane.  The  system  which  does  this 
is  called  the  merit  system.  It  has  the  threefold  advan- 
tage that  it  secures  fit  public  servants,  preserves  them 
and  the  appointing  officer  from  political  pressure,  and 
the  people  from  machine  domination.  Such  is  the  mean- 
ing of  civil  service  reform.  Few  can  now  be  found  to 
dispute  it  theoretically.  When  we  come  into  the  realm 
of  practice  difficulties  crop  up  as  they  are  apt  to  do  in  tlie 
translation  of  any  theory  into  actuality. 

The  first  difficulty  is  to  secure  a  pure  fountainhead. 
It  is  well  understood  that  machinery  alone  will  not  se- 
cure a  reform — there  must  be  a  good  will  directing  it. 
The  executive  who  has  the  task  of  selecting  the  officials, 
called  commissioners,  who  have  charge  of  the  examin- 
nations  of  civil  service,  must  desire  the  success  of  the 
system.  Then  there  is  the  difficulty  of  providing  an  ex- 
amination that  actually  will  enable  the  fit  man  to  prove 
his  fitness.  Many  stories  are  afloat  as  to  the  absurd  ques- 
tions asked  in  civil  ser^dce  examinations.  Many  of  these 
stories  are  easily  demonstrated  falsehoods,  and  whatever 
of  truth  there  is  in  any  of  them  probably  represents  early 
attempts  before  all  the  conditions  of  the  problem  were 
realized.  Being  educated  men  themselves,  tlie  commis- 
sioners are  apt  to  identify  too  closely  the  answering  of 
written  questions  with  an  examination.  An  ''examina- 
tion" is  simply  a  looking  into,  and  any  method  is  to  be 
resorted  to  which  will  have  the  result  of  revealing  the 
desired  information.  The  modern  civil  service  examina- 
tion leaves  little  to  be  desired  in  this  way.  It  is  realized 
that  the  way  to  find  out  whether  a  man  is  a  good  cook 
for  the  public  hospitals  is  to  watch  him  cook  and  then  eat 
the  result.    The  laborers  labor,  the  pavers  and  rammers 


166  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

pave  and  ram,  the  carpenters  work  at  carpentering  and 
the  civil  engineers  draw,  figure  and  theorize.  In  all 
cases  a  definite  and  important  weight  is  given  to  experi- 
ence. Considerable  complaint  is  heard  that  the  exami- 
nations can  only  be  passed  by  the  college  bred,  or  young- 
sters just  out  of  school,  while  adults  taught  in  the  school 
of  experience  have  no  chance.  On  analysis,  any  specific 
complaint  of  this  kind  will  generally  be  found  to  origi- 
nate with  an  unsuccessful  applicant  w^ho  has  been  sur- 
prised at  the  high  order  of  merit  the  public  expects  under 
the  rational  system.  Having  felt  himself  equal  to  filling 
the  position,  since,  under  the  old  system  worse  men  than 
he  have  filled  it,  he  is  dismayed  at  an  examination  he  has 
not  the  ability  to  pass.  But  others  have  the  ability  and 
the  service  gets  the  benefit. 

A  more  reasonable  criticism  urges  that  there  are  cer- 
tain qualities  in  men  too  subtle  to  be  detected  by  any  ex- 
amination, which  are  nevertheless  of  the  highest  im- 
portance, such  as  temper  and  general  attitude  of  the 
prospective  employee,  his  trustworthiness  and  willing- 
ness. Every  administrative  officer  feels  instinctively 
that  he  is  a  judge  of  these  things  and  that  an  examina- 
tion cannot  discriminate  as  to  them.  The  merit  system 
admits  that  there  is  something  in  this  idea,  and  provides 
accordingly.  Instead  of  forcing  the  executive  to  be  con- 
tent with  the  man  standing  highest  on  the  list,  he  is  per- 
mitted untrammeled  choice  among  the  first  four.  Since 
all  have  passed,  the  presumption  is  that  they  are  fit,  and 
it  is  not  likely  that  all  would  lack  the  subtle  qualifications 
in  question.  Further,  positions  of  a  specially  confiden- 
tial nature  are  exempt  from  examination.  In  such  case 
the  executive  officer  feels  a  special  responsibility  and  is 
trusted  to  make  a  good  selection.  Also  in  such  cases  the 
unexaminable  qualifications  are  particularly  important. 
But  when  it  comes  to  the  rank  and  file  of  the  thousands 
of  city  positions  it  would  be  folly  to  expect  that  an  execu- 


CITIES  OF  THE  FIRST  CLASS.  167 

tive  officer  either  could  or  would  make  as  adequate  a  test 
of  the  applicant's  fitness  as  the  Civil  Service  Commis- 
sion can. 

Arrayed  on  the  side  of  the  merit  system  are  all  peo- 
ple disinterestedly  interested  in  public  affairs,  against  it 
are  all  interestedly  interested. 

A  devoted  band  of  men  of  ideals,  known  as  the  Civil 
Service  Reform  Association,  has  kept  the  flame  of  this 
ideal  alight.  For  more  than  a  generation  they  have  been 
striving  to  have  the  State  follow  the  footsteps  of  the 
nation  in  adopting  the  merit  system,  but  the  spoilsmen 
are  well  entrenched.  The  association,  however,  did  suc- 
ceed in  connecting  the  merit  system  in  the  public  mind 
with  the  idea  of  reform,  and  they  were  also  ready  with 
an  extremely  well  worked  out  bill,  so  that  when  the  Legis- 
lature sat  in  sackclotli  and  ashes  in  1906  and  was  search- 
ing for  reforms  that  it  might  prove  the  depth  and  reality 
of  its  penitence,  the  association  bill  was  furnished  to  it 
and  passed  almost  without  change.  Under  the  limita- 
tions of  the  call  for  the  special  session  of  1906,  the  bill 
could  only  provide  for  cities  of  the  first  class.  Cities  of 
the  second  class  have  since  been  provided  for,  as  well  as 
cities  of  the  third  class  to  a  limited  degree,  and  the  rest 
of  the  State  awaits  the  fullness  of  time. 

Thus  the  Civil  Service  Commission  with  its  machin- 
ery of  examinations  is  now  part  of  the  government  of 
cities  of  the  first  class. 


CHAPTEE  XVI. 


CITIES  OF  THE  SECOND  CLASS. 


IN  order  to  understand  the  government  of  cities  of  the 
second  class  it  is  necessary  that  we   should  delve 
somewhat  into  the  mysteries  of  ''ripper"  legislation. 
Personalities  may  be  entirely  disregarded. 

The  political  issues  which  were  so  dark  in  1901  have 
now  changed,  but  the  record  of  the  use  of  legislative 
power  to  serve  political  ends  is  imperishably  chiseled 
upon  the  statute  book.  Up  until  the  session  of  1901, 
cities  of  the  second  class  had  mayors  like  other  cities  of 
the  State,  but  in  that  year  a  Mayor  of  Pittsburgh  occu- 
pied the  office  who  was  not  pleasing  to  the  powers  in  con- 
trol of  the  Legislature.  As  there  was  no  means  of  get- 
ting rid  of  the  man,  the  simple  expedient  was  adopted  of 
abolishing  the  office.  Accordingly  in  that  year  an  elabo- 
rate act  was  passed  entitled,  "An  Act  for  the  Govern- 
ment of  Cities  of  the  Second  Class."  ^  The  real  purpose 
of  the  act  is  apparent  in  its  first  sentence,  "In  cities  of 
second  class  the  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  city 
recorder,  and  in  the  departments  authorized  by  this  act. 
The  office  of  mayor  in  said  cities  is  hereby  abolished." 
Twenty-seven  pages  later,  in  the  first  sentence  of  the 
schedule  appended  at  the  end  of  the  act,  appears  the  de- 
nouement, "Within  thirty  days  from  the  approval  of  this 
act,  the  Governor  of  this  Commonwealth  shall,  by  ap- 
pointment, fill  the  office  of  city  recorder  in  each  of  the 
existing  cities  of  the  second  class."  Thus  the  duly 
elected  chief  magistrates  of  the  cities  of  the  second  class 
were  ripped  out  of  office  and  gubernatorial  appointees 
took  their  places.     The  title  of  recorder  must  have  car- 

(1)  Act  March  7,  1901,  P.  L.  20. 
168 


CITIES    OF    THE    SECOND    CLASS.  169 

ried  with  it  evil  associations,  for  at  the  next  session  of 
the  Legislature  the  name  of  the  office  was  changed  back  to 
mayor.^ 

The  disgrace  of  the  ripper  procedure  could  not  so 
easily  be  washed  away. 

Examining  the  act  of  1901  merely  as  a  piece  of  legis- 
lation and  apart  from  its  ulterior  purpose,  we  find  it  pro- 
viding for  a  system  of  government  not  unlike  the  govern- 
ment of  cities  of  the  first  class.  The  recorder,  or  as  ho 
is  now  called  mayor,  has  practically  the  same  powers  as 
the  mayor  in  Philadelphia.  The  executive  departments 
are  as  follows: 

Department  of  Public  Safety, 

Department  of  Public  Works, 

Department  of  Collector  of  Delinquent  Taxes, 

Department  of  Assessor, 

Department  of  City  Treasurer, 

Department  of  City  Controller, 

Department  of  Law, 

Department  of  Charities  and  Correction, 

Sinking  Fund  Commission. 

all  of  which  departments  are  sufficiently  described  by 
their  names.  The  legislative  power  is  vested  in  a  select 
and  common  council,  bodies  with  which  we  are  already 
familiar  in  the  case  of  cities  of  the  first  class.  There  is 
abundant  difference  of  minor  details  between  cities  of 
the  first  and  second  chiss,  but  the  framework  of  govern- 
ment as  provided  for  in  this  law  for  cities  of  the  second 
class  is  practically  the  same  as  in  cities  of  the  first  class. 
With  similar  forms  of  government  in  eastei-n  and 
western  ends  of  the  State,  there  was  given  an  opportun- 
ity for  a  comparison  of  the  relative  political  advancement 
of  the  two  sections.  While  Philadelphia  lias  been  con- 
tent to  worry  along  under  its  archaic  system,  Pittsburgli 
insisted  on  having  a  more  modern  form  of  govermnent. 
A  tremendous  campaign  was  instituted  and  the  Legisla- 

(2)   Act  April  23,  1903,  P.  L.  284. 


170  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ture  of  1911  was  prevailed  upon  to  modify  the  form  of 
govenmient  of  cities  of  the  second  class  to  include  the 
small  council."  Now,  instead  of  having  councils,  the 
legislative  power  of  the  city  is  vested  in  ''the  council," 
which  consists  of  not  less  than  five  members  and  has  an 
additional  member  for  each  75,000  inhabitants  over  200,- 
000.  In  order  that  adequate  attention  shall  be  given  to 
their  duties,  the  councihnen  receive  a  salary,  which  shall 
not  be  less  than  $2,000  nor  more  than  $6,500  a  year.  The 
powers  of  this  council  are  quite  extensive.  They  fix  the 
salaries  of  all  the  city  officials  and  employees  who  are 
not  elected,  and  approve  the  appointment  of  the  heads 
of  executive  departments  made  by  the  mayor.  They  also 
have  the  power  of  impeaching  the  heads  of  departments. 
The  mayor  retains  the  usual  veto  power. 

It  will  be  at  once  recognized  that  this  change  in  the 
law  is  a  very  timid  step  in  the  direction  of  the  commis- 
sion form  of  government.  The  councilmen,  although  few 
in  number,  are  not  executive  officers  of  the  city,  and  for 
this  reason  bear  no  real  relation  to  the  commissioners 
under  the  commission  form  of  government.  The  act  as 
finally  passed  was  but  the  mutilated  remains  of  a  much 
more  extensive  act  which  included  the  checks  of  the  initi- 
ative, referendum  and  recall  and  other  features  more 
nearly  approximating  commission  form  of  government. 
Nevertheless,  this  change  is  a  distinct  step  forward  and 
makes  further  improvements  easier  to  secure  than  would 
be  the  case  if  it  had  never  been  taken. 


(3)  Act  May  31.  1911,  P.  L.  461. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


CITIES    OF    THE    THIRD    CLASS. 


THE  most  numerous  group  of  cities  is  the  third 
class.  In  a  general  way  it  may  be  said  that  all  the 
cities  in  Pennsylvania,  except  Philadelphia,  Pitts- 
burgh and  Scranton,  belong  to  this  class.  Some  modifi- 
cation of  this  statement,  however,  must  be  made  before 
it  is  strictly  accurate,  because  there  are  a  number  of  cities 
which  were  incorporated  before  the  passage  of  the  act 
first  dividing  cities  into  classes,^  and  these  were  not  made 
cities  of  the  third  class  automatically,  but  retained  their 
former  charters  until  they  chose  to  come  into  the  class 
and  be  governed  by  the  general  laws  provided  in  the 
statute    regulating    cities    of    the    third    class.      Conse- 


(1)  Act  May  23,  1874,  P.  L.  230.  Act  May  23,  1889,  P.  L.  277. 
There,  Art.  XIX,  p.  1,  cities  of  the  third  class  are  defined  as  follows: 
^'The  term  'cities  of  the  third  class'  shall  include  only. 

I.  All  cities  of  the  proper  population  which  have  been  in- 
coi-porated  under  the  provision  of  an  act  of  assembly,  entitled, 
'An  Act  dividino:  the  cities  of  this  state  into  three  classes,  regulat- 
ing the  passaofe  of  ordinances,  providing  for  contracts  for  sup- 
plies and  work  for  said  cities,  authorizing  the  increase  of  in- 
debtedness and  the  creation  of  a  sinking  fund  to  redeem  the 
same,  defining  and  providing  certain  offences  in  all  of  said  cities 
and  providing  for  the  incorporation  and  government  of  the  cities 
of  the  third  class',  approved  May  23,  1874,  and  which  may  here- 
after be  incorporated  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

II.  All  cities  of  the  proper  population  which  have  accepted 
the  provisions  of  the  said  act  of  May  23,  1874,  in  the  manner 
prescribed  in  the  fifty-seventh  section  thereof. 

m.  All  other  cities  of  the  proper  population  only  from  and 
after  the  date  of  their  acceptance  of  the  provisions  of  the  said  act 
of  May  23,  1874,  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  fifth  section 
thereof." 

A  definition  closely  similar  is  found  in  the  act  of  June  27, 
1913,  P.  L.  568. 

171 


172  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

quently,  there  are  still  some  cities  which  are  governed  by 
special  charters. 

Although  no  new  cities  can  be  chartered  unless  they 
have  a  population  of  at  least  ten  thousand,  cities  of  a  less 
population,  which  were  chartered  prior  to  1874,  can  ac- 
cept the  provisions  of  the  act  and  become  cities  of  the 
third  class.  Nor  is  it  true  that  all  corporate  communities 
with  a  population  of  ten  thousand  or  over  are  cities  of 
third  class,  because  a  borough  does  not  automatically 
graduate  into  a  city  by  attaining  to  the  population  of 
ten  thousand.  It  simply  achieves  the  right  to  become  such 
if  it  pleases,  and  many  of  the  larger  boroughs  prefer  to 
retain  their  simpler  form  of  organization.  Thus  we 
have  the  anomalous  contrast  of  the  borough  of  Norris- 
toA\Ti  with  a  population  of  27,875  and  the  city  of  Corry 
with  a  population  of  5,991.  Names,  also,  are  not  always 
enlightening,  since  Ellwood  City  is  a  borough,  as  are 
also  Fayette  City,  Ford  City,  Forest  City,  Grove  City,  <% 

Tower  City  and  Lumber  City  (population  363).  Mahanoy 
City  is  a  borough,  though  it  has  population  enough  to  be 
a  city  (15,936). 

Cities  of  the  third  class  have  shown  themselves  very 
progressive.  For  a  long  time  their  officers  have  met  in 
annual  convention  to  discuss  matters  affecting  their  in- 
terests and  from  these  conventions  have  emanated  many 
ideas  which  have  been  adopted  by  the  Legislature. 

Prior  to  1913  cities  of  the  third  class  were  governed 
by  machinery  which  was  absurdly  complex  even  for  a 
city  of  the  first  class.  All  the  pomp  and  circumstance 
of  mayor,  common  and  select  councils,  vetoes,  messages 
and  other  red  tape  enough  to  tie  up  a  nation  encumbered 
their  simple  affairs.  Everyone  intelligently  interested  in 
the  government  of  these  cities  had  long  realized  that  im- 
provement was  necessary.  The  progressive  Legislature 
of  1913  afforded  the  opportunity  for  an  advance  all  along 
the  line.    A  comprehensive  bill  was  prepared  revolution- 


CITIES   OF   THE   THIRD   CLASS.  173 

izing  the  whole  method  of  government  and  was  finally 
passed,  though  not  without  difficulty  and  after  suffering 
some  alterations.^  The  leaven  of  progress,  having  had 
two  more  years  to  work  since  the  provision  for  cities  of 
the  second  class,  produced  better  results. 

The  legislative  power  is  concentrated  in  a  council, 
which  is  composed  of  the  mayor  and  four  councilmen. 
The  mayor  is  elected  definitely  to  that  office.  The  mayor 
is  president  of  council,  and  serves  four  years,  the  council- 
men  serving  two.  The  mayor  votes  at  council  meetings, 
but  cannot  veto  any  measure  adopted  by  the  affirmative 
vote  of  a  majoi-ity  of  all  elected.  That  is  to  say,  adopted 
by  a  vote  of  three  members.  Presumably  if  a  measure 
were  adopted  by  a  vote  of  2  to  1  (3  being  a  quorum),  he 
could  veto."' 

A  correlative  of  concentrating  all  the  power  in  a  few 

hands  is  that  they  should  give  continuous  attention  to  the 

work  and  hence  should  be  paid.     The  salary  is  to  be 

fixed  by  council  itself  but  shall  not  be  less  than  $250  nor 

more  than  $3,000  per    annum.      Until    the    salaries    are 

changed  by  council,  the  statute  fixes  them  at: 

$    300  for  cities  of  15,000  and  under 

750  ''  "      "  over        ''        "       "         30.000. 

2,000  "  "      "  30,000    "       "         50,000. 

2,500  "  ''      "  50,000    "       "         70,000. 

3,000  "  "      ''  70,000    "       "       100,000. 

Fines  may  be  retained  for  absence  from  council  meet- 
ings. 

The  salary  of  the  mayor  is  fixed  by  council,  but  must 
be  not  less  than  $500  nor  more  than  $3,500.  Until  changed 
by  council,  it  is  fixed  at : 

$    500  for  cities  of  15,000  or  under, 
1,200     "       "      "  15,000  to     30.000. 
2,500     "       "      "  30,000  "     50,000. 
3,000     ''       ''      "  50,000  ''     70.000. 
3,500     ''       "      "  70,000  "   100.000. 

(2)  Act  June  27,  1913,  P.  L.  568. 

(3)  Filling  vacancies  is  provided  for  in  Act  April  6,  1917,  P.  L. 


174  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  executive  and  administrative  powers  are  distrib- 
uted among  five  departments,  each  of  which  is  headed 
by  one  of  the  council.  Thus  the  power  and  responsibility 
for  the  administration  is  concentrated  and  the  difficulty 
created  by  the  attempt  to  model  city  government  after 
the  nation,  with  its  sharp  distinction  between  executive 
and  legislative  departments,  is  overcome. 

These  departments  are  named  as  follows : 

Public  Affairs, 

Accounts  and  Finance, 

Public  Safety, 

Streets  and  Public  Improvements, 

Parks  and  Public  Pi'operty. 

The  exact  scope  of  each  department  is  defined  by  the 
council  and  it  can  assign  any  particular  duty  to  any  de- 
partment. This  retains  flexibility.  The  mayor  is  super- 
intendent of  public  affairs.  The  other  members  of  coun- 
cil are  assigned  to  be  superintendents  of  the  other  depart- 
ments as  the  council  decides. 

The  mayor  is  the  chief  executive  magistrate  of  the 
city,  and  is  charged  with  maintaining  public  peace.  To 
this  end  he  has  all  the  power  of  a  sheriff  to  suppress 
mobs  and  riots,  and  can  close  up  saloons  in  time  of  threat- 
ened disorder.  He  has  also  within  the  city  the  criminal 
jurisdiction  of  an  alderman,  an  officer  corresponding  to 
a  magistrate  in  Philadelphia  or  justice  of  the  peace 
throughout  the  State,  as  well  as  certain  other  powers  be- 
longing to  him  as  chief  guardian  of  the  peace.  Among* 
other  things  he  is  authorized  to  solemnize  marriages.  He 
is  also  responsible  for  the  city's  police  force. 

The  member  of  council  who  is  assigned  to  be  superin- 
tendent of  accounts  and  finance  has  general  responsi- 
bility for  the  finances  of  the  city,  must  countersign  all 
warrants  and  is  directed  to  suggest  to  council  plans  for 
the  management  and  improvement  of  the  city  finances. 
The  city  treasurer  is  elected  by  council,  and  is  the  em- 
ployee of  the  city  who  is  in  direct  charge  of  the  city's 


CITIES   OF  jrHE    THIRD    CLASS.  175 

funds.  He  is  checked  by  the  city  controller  who  is  en- 
tirely independent  of  council,  being  elected  directly  by 
the  people.^ 

The  statute  is  not  specific  concernin.o-  the  duties  of  the 
superintendents  of  the  other  departments,  and  it  must 
be  confessed  that  the  scheme  of  government  laid  down  in 
the  act  is  a  little  vague  insofar  as  the  relation  of  these 
superintendents  to  the  actual  working  employees  is  con- 
cerned and  as  to  how  far  they  are  to  be  considered  ex- 
ecutive officers  rather  than  mere  committees  of  one,  of 
the  legislative  l)ranch.  Thus  there  is  the  city  solicitor, 
elected  by  council,  who  has  general  charge  of  the  law 
business  of  the  city  and  is  not  under  the  control  of  any 
superintendent  of  a  department. 

A  city  engineer  is  to  be  elected  by  councils,  and  he  is 
given  extensive  powers,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
is  in  any  way  controlled  by  any  of  the  superintendents 
of  departments. 

The  single,  small  council,  with  administrative  pow- 
ers is  perhaps  tlie  most  striking  feature  of  the  form  of 
govermnent  for  cities  of  the  third  class,  but  from  an- 
other point  of  view,  other  features  of  the  act  are  more 
interesting.    Here  we  have, 

The  non-partisan  ballot, 
The  initiative, 
The  referendum. 

The  recall  does  not  appear. 

The  intrusion  of  these  newcomers  into  actual  govern- 
mental workings  in  conservative  Pennsylvania  is  worthy 
of  somewhat  closer  attention. 

Nominations  for  offices  to  be  filled  in  cities  of  the 
third  class  are  made  by  petition  signed  by  twenty-five 
voters.  No  party  designation  whatever  is  allowed  on 
the  petition,  and  as  many  nominations  can  be  filed  as 
there  are  candidates  with  twenty-five  supporters. 


(4)  Act  July  19,  1917,  P.  L. 


176  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  names  so  nominated  are  then  printed  on  a  sepa- 
rate non-partisan  ballot  which  is  given  to  each  voter  at 
the  primary  election  in  addition  to  the  party  ballot  which 
he  selects  according  to  his  affiliations.  The  candidates 
receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes  on  this  non-parti- 
san ballot,  up  to  twice  the  number  to  be  elected,  become 
the  candidates  at  the  municipal  election  following. 

The  position  which  the  name  of  a  candidate  occu- 
pies upon  a  non-partisan  ballot  has  been  found  to  have 
a  serious  effect  upon  the  result.  While  it  undoubtedly  re- 
flects upon  the  intelligence  of  the  voters,  still  it  is  un- 
questionably true  that  the  name  at  the  top  has  a  real 
advantage  from  that  reason  alone,  and  other  names  in 
proportion  to  their  nearness  to  the  top.  Some  rule  of 
placing  must  be  adopted,  else  this  advantage  would  be 
given  by  favoritism.  The  non-partisan  law  by  which 
judges  and  officers  of  cities  of  the  second  class  are  elected 
secures  at  least  impartiality  by  placing  the  names  alpha- 
betically. This,  however,  does  not  remove  unfairness, 
it  simply  bestows  the  advantage  on  an  accident  of  nomen- 
clature. Under  such  a  system,  if  John  Adams  were  run- 
ning against  George  Washington,  Adams  would  be 
elected.  The  law  under  consideration  governing  elec- 
tions in  cities  of  the  third  class  simply  robs  Peter  to  pay 
Paul.  For  the  accident  of  nomenclature  it  substitutes 
the  purer  accident  of  the  lot.  There  is  no  more  reason 
why  a  man  should  be  elected  to  office  because  he  pulls  the 
longest  straw  than  because  his  name  is  Aaron  Aarons. 
Both  reasons  are  irrelevant.  The  only  proper  method, 
and  one  which  has  been  adopted  in  some  States  where 
non-partisan  voting  is  used,  is  to  change  the  position  of 
the  names  on  different  ballots  in  a  regular  way,  so  that 
each  name  will  occupy  each  position  a  proper  number 
of  times.  Thus  the  unintelligent  voters  are  pitted 
against  each  other  and  neutralize  each  other's  votes  so 
that  the  decision  lies  with  those  who  vote  intelligently. 


CITIES   OF    THE    THIRD    CLASS.  177 

At  the  municipal  election  the  names  of  candidates  suc- 
cessful at  the  primary  are.  placed  on  the  official  ballot 
in  a  place  by  themselves,  their  positions  here,  too,  de- 
teiTnined  by  lot,  and  the  voter  marks  his  choice  individ- 
ually, his  straight  vote  for  the  remainder  of  his  ticket 
having  no  effect  on  this  part. 

The  initiative  is  provided  for  as  follows :  Any  group 
of  one  hundred  qualified  electors  may  require  the  city 
clerk  to  prepare  a  petition  accompanying  a  proposed 
ordinance.  Notice  of  this  petition  is  published  in  the 
newspapers  and  the  petition  lies  at  the  office  of  the  city 
clerk,  where  it  may  be  signed  by  all  qualified  voters  who 
care  to  do  so.  The  petition  cannot  be  carried  around  by 
agents,  paid  or  otherwise,  who  obtain  signatures  by  im- 
portunity, thus  removing  one  of  the  chief  objections  to 
the  use  of  petitions  in  governmental  matters.  If  at  the 
end  of  ten  days  the  petition  has  been  signed  by  20  per 
cent,  of  the  number  of  voters  who  voted  for  all  candi- 
dates for  mayor  at  the  last  preceding  municipal  election, 
the  petition  and  ordinance  is  submitted  to  council.  If 
it  is  not  so  numerously  signed,  ten  more  days  are  given 
for  another  trial,  and  if  the  friends  of  the  measure  can- 
not succeed  by  that  time,  the  proceeding  is  exhausted. 
If  they  desire  to  try  again,  they  must  begin  from  the 
beginning. 

When  a  properly  signed  petition  with  a  proposed 
ordinance  has  been  presented  to  council,  that  body  has 
two  alternatives,  either  to  pass  the  ordinance  unamended 
within  twenty  days,  or  call  a  special  election  (unless  a 
general  or  municipal  election  falls  within  ninety  days), 
at  which  the  ordinance  is  referred  to  the  people. 

When  such  an  ordinance  has  been  adopted  by  .the  peo- 
ple, it  cannot  be  amended  or  repealed  by  council  for  two 
years,  without  another  vote  of  the  people. 

Not  more  than  two  special  elections  for  voting  on 
initiative  ordinances  may  be  held  in  any  year. 

12 


178  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  referendum  operates  upon  measures  proposed 
and  adopted  by  council.  No  ordinance  goes  into  effect 
(with  certain  exceptions  for  urgency)  until  ten  days  after 
it  is  adopted,  and  ordinances  granting  franchises  cannot 
go  into  effect  until  thirty  days  after  adoption.  In  the 
meanwhile  a  twenty  per  cent,  petition  against  the  measure 
may  be  presented.  On  receiving  this  gentle  suggestion 
that  their  measure  is  not  popular,  council  may  recon- 
sider, but  if  they  are  obdurate  and  cling  to  their  ordi- 
nance, it  must  be  submitted  to  the  people,  and  its  fate 
is  settled  by  them. 

As  though  suggesting  a  doubt  about  the  advisability 
of  allowing  really  important  measures  to  be  subject  to 
referendum,  the  statute  provides  that  it  cannot  be  in- 
voked against  any  tax  levy,  nor  to  the  annual  appro- 
priation ordinance,  nor  to  any  ordinance  providing  for 
the  exercise  of  the  right  of  eminent  domain. 

The  foregoing  brief  description  shows  that  Pennsyl- 
vania cities  of  the  third  class  now  have  all  the  five  es- 
sentials of  a  commission  form  of  government,  as  laid 
do^^^l  by  the  writer  quoted  in  a  former  chapter,^  the 
small  governing  body,  their  election  at  large,  combination 
of  executive  and  legislative  powers,  the  assignment  of 
each  commissioner  to  a  department,  and  the  checks  de- 
signed to  secure  popular  control.  As  an  additional  mark 
of  progress,  cities  of  the  third  class  have  a  somewhat 
restricted  but  nevertheless  valuable  system  of  appoint- 
ment of  employees  under  the  merit  system.*^ 

(5)  Chapter  XIV,  p.  150. 

(6)  Act  May  3,  1917,  P.  L.  Act  June  20,  1917,  P.  L. 
Act  July  16,  1917,  P.  L. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

BOROUGHS,  INCORPORATED  TOWNS  AND  TOWNSHIPS. 

IN  Pennsylvania,  the  borough  is  the  simplest  of  the 
municipal  corporations  that  govern  closely  settled 
localities,  and  is  ordinarily  the  smallest,  though 
some  boroughs  are  larger  than  some  cities. 

Originally  boroughs  were  incorporated  by  special  act, 
but  a  general  act  for  their  incorporation  was  early 
adopted.^  Since  that  time  a  great  mass  of  amendatory 
and  supplementary  legislation  accumulated,  but  was  all 
swept  away,  and  a  single  comprehensive  statute  passed 
in  1915  which  compressed  260  acts  or  parts  of  acts  into 
one,  ''The  General  Borough  Act.^ 

A  scattered  population  has  no  need  for  local  govern- 
ment, beyond  what  is  provided  by  the  township.  But 
it  frequently  happens  that  for  one  reason  or  another 
groups  of  people  gather  and  soon  a  little  cluster  of 
houses  appears.  A  town  or  village  has  been  formed,  but 
nothing  yet  recognized  by  the  law  as  an  entity  differing 
from  the  township  of  which  it  forms  a  part.  With  the 
closer  grouping  come  the  problems  of  local  government,, 
questions  of  paving,  lighting,  sewering  and  policing,  and 
as  the  embryonic  form  of  township  government  cannot 
supply  organization  enough  to  meet  these,  it  is  necessary 
to  carve  out  of  the  township  that  part  of  its  territory 
which  feels  the  pressure  of  such  problems  and  form  it 
into  a  borough.    This  surgical  operation  is  painful  to  the 


(1)  Act  April  1,  1834,  P.  L.  163. 

(2)  Act  May  14,  1915,  P.  L.  312,  amended  by  Act  May  10,  1917, 
P.  L.  and  Act  July  6,  1917,  P.  L.  The  draftin^:  of  this 
act  is  part  of  the  valuable  work  being  done  by  the  Lejjislative  Re- 
ference Bureau  described  above. 

179 


180  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

remainder  of  the  township,  since  the  richest  field  for  the 
tax  gatherer  is  to  be  found  in  the  portion  of  the  township 
which  desires  to  become  a  borough,  and  hence  there  is 
usually  opposition  to  the  formation  of  the  borough,  but 
as  the  thickly  settled  part  has  probably  grown  tired  of 
paying  for  the  repair  of  the  roads  throughout  the  town- 
ship, while  unable  to  get  a  sewer  system  for  itself,  it  is 
apt  to  persist.  The  question  is  settled  by  the  Court  of 
Quarter  Sessions  of  the  county.  When  a  majority  of  the 
real  estate  owners  of  the  area  which  it  it  proposed  to  cut 
off  and  to  erect  into  a  borough  present  a  petition  for  that 
purpose,  the  court  considers  the  matter  and  grants  or  re- 
fuses the  petition  as  seems  to  it  best.  It  is  in  this  way 
that  new  boroughs  are  created  at  the  present  time.  There 
are  many  boroughs  in  existence  which  have  been  created 
by  special  act  of  the  Legislature,  and  many  which,  al- 
though originally  so  created,  have  accepted  the  provis- 
ions of  and  so  come  under  the  general  borough  laws.  In 
considering  the  effect  of  laws  passed  to  reg-ulate  bor- 
oughs it  must  be  constantly  remembered  that  there  are 
many  places  called  boroughs,  which  will  not  be  affected 
by  such  laws,  because  they  have  been  created  by  special 
statute,  and  hence  though  called  boroughs,  do  not  be- 
long to  the  family  of  boroughs  which  come  under  the 
terms  of  laws  regulating  boroughs  generally. 

Some  laws,  however,  which  regulate  affairs  of  State- 
wide interest  happening  in  boroughs  (as,  for  instance, 
election  matters),  would,  when  mentioning  boroughs,  in- 
clude them  all,  whether  incorporated  under  special  or 
general  act.  There  is  here  ground  for  much  difficulty 
and  dispute,  and  any  particular  question  about  it  can 
only  be  answered  by  a  lawyer,  or  court,  but  it  is  well  for 
the  general  reader  interested  in  boroughs  to  know  about 
it,  so  that  he  will  not  be  misled  when  urging  or  opposing 
legislation  in  which  the  name  borough  appears.    The  fol- 


BOROUGHS,  TOWNS  AND   TOWNSHIPS.  181 

lowing  description  of  boroughs  refers  to  those  coming 
under  the  General  Borough  Act. 

As  boroughs  are  usually  comparatively  small,^  their 
form  of  government  is  simple,  but  they  preserve  the 
familiar  distinction  between  executive  and  legislative 
departments.  In  this  respect  the  new  borough  code 
would  seem  to  be  retrogressive,  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  this  act  did  not  attempt  to  add  anything  new, 
it  simply  codified  the  existing  laws. 

The  chief  executive  officer  is  called  the  Burgess,  rem- 
iniscent of  the  historic  burgomaster.  The  act  does  not 
state  that  the  inhabitants  are  called  burghers.  True 
to  the  theory  running  through  most  of  our  governmental 
arrangements,  the  separation  between  the  departments 
is  made  complete.  The  burgess  is  not  a  member  of  the 
council  nor  does  he  preside  at  its  meetings,  except  the 
meeting  for  organization.  In  order  to  prevent  his  be- 
coming a  local  despot,  he  may  not  hold  any  other  borough 
offices,  and  it  was  originally  provided  that  he  could  not 
succeed  himself,  but  this  latter  provision  was  aban- 
doned.^ 

The  principal  duty  of  a  burgess  is  that  of  a  peace 
officer.  He  has  the  powers  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  in 
enforcing  borough  ordinances  and  in  riots,  tumults  and 
disorderly  meetings.  He  also  directs  the  borough  police, 
but  the  appointment  and  discharge  of  policemen  are  re- 
tained by  the  council. 

The  burgess  is  a  salaried  officer,  his  compensation 
being  fixed  by  the  council,  but  the  maximum  is  fixed  by 
statute  on  a  sliding  scale  of  population  ($100  per  thou- 
sand for  the  first  one  thousand  and  $50  for  each  thou- 
sand additional). 

As  befits  the  small  population  and  simple  government 

(3)  The  largest  is  Norristown  with  a  population  in  1910  of 
27,875,  and  from  that  they  dwindle  in  population  to  a  fow  luindred. 

(4)  Act  Marcdi  30,  1917,  P.  L. 


182  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

of  boroughs,  the  officials  are  few.  The  appointive  officers 
(appointed  by  councils)  are  treasurer,  solicitor,  secre- 
tary of  council,  one  or  two  street  commissioners  and 
policemen.  The  elective  officers  are  burgess,  high  con- 
stable and  three  auditors  or  a  controller.  As  explained 
before  in  connection  with  counties,  the  difference  be- 
tween auditors  and  controllers  is  that  the  auditors  con- 
duct a  sort  of  post  mortem  over  the  accounts  of  the  ac- 
counting officer,  while  a  controller  examines  and  ap- 
proves any  payment  before  it  is  made.  As  a  controller 
must  be  at  his  office  eveiy  day  it  costs  more  to  maintain 
his  office  than  that  of  auditor,  so  only  the  larger  bor- 
oughs have  controllers.  By  recent  legislation  boroughs 
are  given  power  to  create  the  office  of  Borough  Mana- 
ger.^ 

In  boroughs  too  small  to  be  divided  into  wards,  there 
are  seven  councilmen. 

In  boroughs  divided  into  wards,  there  are  at  least  one 
and  not  more  than  three  councihnen  from  each  ward, 
the  number  varying  according  to  circumstance.  As  the 
number  of  wards  in  a  borough  is  never  large,  the  council 
is  always  a  relatively  small  body.  The  burgess  and  mem- 
bers of  council  serve  for  four  years.  Half  of  council  is 
renewed  every  two  years. 

Boroughs  have  power  over  the  streets,  water  supply, 
garbage,  police,  fire  prevention,  regulation  of  buildings, 
nuisances  and  eminent  domain. 

In  many  statutes  regulating  the  affairs  of  boroughs, 
we  find  mention  also  of  ''incorporated  towns."  In  the 
early  days  when  everything  incorporated  had  a  special 
charter,  there  were  a  number  of  communities  which  were 
incorporated  as  the  town  of  so  and  so.  For  all  practical 
purposes  they  were  the  same  as  boroughs  and  had  the 
same  needs,  but  unless  mentioned,  they  were  not  covered 
by  statutes  passed  for  boroughs.    Frequently  they  were 


(5)  Act  June  25,  1917,  P.  L. 


BOROUGHS,   TOWNS   AND   TOWNSHIPS.  183 

forgotten  and  left  out  in  the  cold.  One  by  one  they  aban- 
doned their  position  of  splendid  isolation  and  came  un- 
der the  shelter  of  the  general  borough  act.  One  only, 
Bloomsburg,  has  remained  obdurate,  and  is  still  a  town. 
Consequently,  when  a  law  is  passed  relating  to  boroughs, 
it  is  necessary  to  add  ''and  incorporated  towns,"  lest 
Bloomsburg  be  slighted.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  citi- 
zens of  Bloomsburg  derive  sufficient  satisfaction  from 
their  exclusive  position  to  justify  the  pains  which  the 
Legislature  must  take  to  see  that  they  are  properly  pro- 
vided for. 

TOWNSHIPS. 

The  township,  in  Pennsylvania,  is  the  municipal  cor- 
poration which  attends  to  local  government  in  all  parts 
of  the  county  not  provided  for  by  some  of  the  more  high- 
ly organized  forais  of  municipal  corporations.  Com- 
plexity of  organization  is  proportionate  to  density  of 
population,  and  as  the  more  thickly  settled  parts  of  a 
county  are  organized  into  boroughs  or  cities,  the  remain- 
ing territory,  the  background,  so  to  speak,  of  the  county, 
is  sparsely  settled  and  hence  needs  no  very  highly  or- 
ganized municipal  corporation  to  care  for  its  govern- 
mental needs.  In  New  England,  the  township,  or  town, 
as  they  call  it,^  was  the  original  unit  and  the  State  grew 
up  out  of  the  towTis.  Massachusetts  was  not  created  by 
anybody's  decree.  First  the  Pilgrims  came  over  and 
made  the  town  of  Phmiouth,  and  then  other  Puritans 
came  over  and  set  up  the  town  of  Boston,  and  other 
groups  formed  other  towns,  and  after  a  while  the  several 
towns  came  to  be  recognized  as  the  Colony  of  Massachu- 
setts.^ 

(1)  This  use  of  the  Avord  town  will  explain  what  is  so  puzzling 
to  a  strajiger,  when  a  wayside  farmer  tells  him  that  he  is  in  the  town 
of  X,  though  not  a  house  be  in  sight. 

(2)    The  gift  of  seeing  ourselves  as  others  see  us  is  occasion- 


184  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Pennsylvania  townships  are  of  two  kinds,  Townships 
of  the  First  and  Second  Class.  The  latter  class,  the  com- 
mon or  garden  variety  of  township,  is  the  lowliest  form 
of  corporation  for  the  purpose  of  local  government.  It 
has  no  centres  of  population,  except  a  little  knot  of 
houses  around  some  cross  roads,  and  most  of  its  terri- 


ally  given  in  the  writings  of  foreigners  who  take  the  trouble  really 
to  understand  what  they  observe.  De  Toequeville,  who  came  to 
America  to  see  how  a  democracy  actually  worked,  was  verj^^  much 
interested  in  the  New  England  townships,  and  treats  of  them 
at  considerable  length.  The  practical  citizen  is  advised  to  read 
"Democracy  in  America",  the  fniit  of  his  observation.  The  follow- 
ing two  paragraphs  will  show  how  clearly  he  understood  his 
subject : 

"In  New  England  townships  were  completely  and  definitely 
constituted  as  early  as  1650.  The  independence  of  the  township 
Avas  the  nucleus  round  which  the  local  interests,  passions,  rights 
and  duties  collected  and  clung.  It  gave  scope  to  the  acti\dty  of 
a  real  political  life,  thoroughly  democratic  and  republican.  The 
colonies  still  recognized  the  supremacy  of  the  mother  country; 
monarchy  was  still  the  law  of  the  State;  but  the  republic  was 
already  established  in  every  township. 

''The  towns  named  their  own  magistrates  of  every  kind, 
rated  themselves,  and  levied  their  own  taxes.  In  the  New  Eng- 
land town,  the  law  of  representation  was  not  adopted;  but  the 
affairs  of  the  community  were  discussed,  as  at  Athens,  in  the 
market-place,  by  a  general  assembly  of  the  citizens." 

Democracy  in  America  by  Alexis  de  Toequeville,  Translation 
by  Henry  Reeve,  New  York,  The  Centuiy  Company,  1898,  p.  50. 

Another  distinguished  writer  nearly  two  generations  later 
observed  the  same  conditions  still  existing.  James  Bryce  in  his 
chapter  on  Local  Government  in  ''The  American  Commonwealth," 
clearly  describes  the  place  of  the  township  in  the  American 
scheme  of  government,  its  primal  importance  in  New  England, 
its  practical  absence  in  the  South,  and  a  compromise  between 
the  two  systems  in  the  West,  where  the  streams  of  immigration 
from  the  two  sections  met.  He  also  treats  of  the  Pennsylvania 
system,  grouping  it  with  the  states  compromised  between  the 
New  England  and  Southern  systems,  but  gives  it  very  little  at- 
tention.    Chapter  XLVIII,  ed.  of  1889. 

Changing  conditions  often  pi'oduce  degeneration  in  institu- 
tions once  most  fitted  to  serve  their  purpose.  A  recent  writer, 
referring  to  the  size  of  legislative  bodies  in  America,  says,  "If 
undue  size  is  a  political  sin,  the  worst  sinners  are  the  New  Eng- 


BOROUGHS,   TOWNS   AND   TOWNSHIPS.  185 

tory  is  made  up  of  regions  entirely  rural.  The  care  of 
the  roads  is  its  chief  duty,  and  its  chief  officers  are  the 
supervisors.  In  addition  there  are  assessors,  tax  col- 
lectors, treasurers  and  secretaries.''  Besides  looking  out 
for  the  roads,  the  supervisors  have  charge  of  the  poor 
relief,  unless  that  duty  is  lodged  elsewhere,  as  it  fre- 
quently is.  Of  this  we  will  speak  later.  They  also  have 
the  power  to  appoint  policemen  when  authorized  by  the 
Court  of  Quarter  Sessions.^  The  number  of  supervisors 
in  each  township  is  three. 

Townships  have  no  representative  assembly,  nor 
single  executive,  nor  do  the  people  meet  in  town  meet- 
ing; they  simply  elect  their  officers,  who  have  only  the 
powers  given  them  by  statute.  Thus  it  is  evident  that 
the  Pennsylvania  township  has  no  such  vigorous  politi- 
cal life  as  the  New  England  town.  The  tendency  is  all 
toward  lessening  the  functions  of  the  ordinary  township. 
On  the  one  hand  the  county  and  State  are  more  and  more 
taking  charge  of  the  roads,  and  the  county  of  the  poor 
relief,  while  on  the  other  hand  there  is  no  development 
of  the  ordinary  township  through  growth  of  population, 
because  as  soon  as  the  population  becomes  sufficient,  the 
township  graduates  into  a  townsliip  of  the  first  class, 
which  is  a  very  diiTerent  kind  of  a  thing. 

A  township  of  the  first  class  is  tlie  evolutionary  link 

land  states,  which  have  in  their  six  low<^i-  houses  1,401  members, 
besides  198  in  the  senates.  This  is  due  to  their  unfortunate  em- 
phasis on  the  importance  of  the  town,  once  the  pride  but  now 
the  bane  of  New  England  politics,"  and  again,  "It  seems  plain 
from  the  Constitutions  that  the  town  system  of  New  England 
is  dying.  It  is  not  imitated  outside  of  that  section,  and  within 
that  section  is  in  a  condition  of  inefficiency  and  decrepitude." 

American   State   Constitutions,  by  Jam^s  Quayle  Dealey, 
Ph.  D.,  Ginn  &  Company,  1915. 

(3)  The  laws  regulating  townships  have  been  codified,  and  greatly 
simplified  by  the  passage  of  "The  General  Township  Act."  Act 
July  14,  1917,  P.  L. 

(4)  Act  April  5,  1917,  P.  L. 


186  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

between  a  township  and  a  borough.  As  a  half  developed 
tadpole  has  both  legs  and  tail,  so  a  township  of  the  first 
class  has  the  structure  of  a  township  and  the  powers  of 
a  borough.  It  is  the  solution  of  the  question,  what  shall 
we  do  with  the  suburbs  of  our  big  cities  ?  Where  the  peo- 
ple cluster  thickly  enough,  a  borough  may  be  erected, 
but  as  the  suburban  population  filters  into  wide  reaches 
around  the  large  cities  there  soon  arise  large  areas  which 
are  not  closely  enough  settled  to  make  a  borough,  but 
which  have  many  more  needs  than  could  be  met  by  the 
rudimentary  organization  of  the  township.  For  a  long 
time  such  districts  suffered  from  insufficient  govern- 
ment, but  in  1899  the  matter  w^as  taken  in  hand  and  pro- 
vision made  for  to^\Tiships  of  the  first  class. ^  The  quali- 
fication for  a  township  of  the  first  class  is  to  have  a  popu- 
lation of  at  least  300  per  square  mile,  all  other  townships 
being  relegated  to  the  second  class.  When  the  census 
shows  the  requisite  population,  a  township  is  of  the  first 
class  whether  it  wants  to  be  or  not.  The  place  of  the 
supervisors  in  ordinary  townships  is  taken  by  township 
commissioners.  Usually  there  are  five  of  these.  If  the 
to^\Tiship  has  more  than  five  election  districts,  there  is 
an  additional  commissioner  for  each  additional  election 
district.  As  in  ordinary  to^mships,  there  is  a  township 
treasurer,  township  clerk  and  township  auditors.  The 
to^vnship  commissioners  have  almost  the  power  of  a  city 
council  in  their  authority  over  grading  and  paving 
streets,  passing  ordinances  and  laying  fines  for  their 
violation  and  in  their  care  for  the  public  safety  and  pub- 
lic health.^ 


(5)  Act  April  28,  1899,  P.  L.  104.  Since  repealed  and  replaced 
by  the  General  Township  Act,  supra. 

(6)  By  Act  of  May  29,  1907,  P.  L.  302,  townships  of  the  first 
class  are  required  to  appoint  boards  of  health,  which  are  to  have 
the  powers  of  boards  of  health  of  cities  of  the  third  class. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

POOR  DISTRICTS  AND  SCHOOL  DISTRICTS. 

THE  poor  we  have  always  with  us.  Consequently, 
it  is  to  be  expected  that  the  law  governing  the 
care  of  the  poor  will  run  parallel  with  the  history 
of  the  State,  and  this  is  exactly  what  we  find.  Pennsyl- 
vania was  still  a  very  new  settlement  and  land  was  still 
abundant  and  cheap  for  anyone  wlio  would  take  the 
trouble  to  cut  the  trees,  when  the  number  of  poor  need- 
ing relief  was  sufficiently  great  to  require  the  passage  of 
a  general  act  covering  the  subject.  The  whole  of  the 
first  paragraph  of  this  act  is  given  because  of  the  quaint 
enacting  clause  in  use  in  Colonial  times. 

"An  Aft  for  the  Relief  of  the  Poor.  For  the  better  relief 
of  the  poor  of  this  province. 

[Section  I.J  Be  it  enacted  by  John  Evans,  Esquire,  by  the 
Queen's  royal  approbation  Lieutenant-Governor  under  William 
Penn,  Esquire,  absolute  Proprietary  and  Govemor-in-Chief  of 
the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  and  Temtories,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  freemen  of  the  said  Province  in  General 
Assembly  met,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same.  That  the 
justices  of  the  peace  of  the  respective  counties  of  this  province, 
or  any  three  or  more  of  them  shall,  on  the  five-and-twentieth  day 
of  March,  yearly  (unless  that  sliall  happen  on  the  First  day  of 
the  week,  and  then  on  the  day  following)  meet  at  some  convenient 
place  within  their  county,  and  there  nominate  and  appoint  one, 
two  or  more  (as  the  case  may  require)  of  (the)  substantial  in- 
habitants of  the  respective  townships;  and  where  the  townships 
are  small  and  inhabitants  few,  two  or  more,  as  the  justices  shall 
think  fit,  may  be  joined  tog^ether  within  their  county  to  be  over- 
seers of  the  poor  of  the  said  townships  for  the  year  ensuing.' 


(1)  Act  Januaiy  12,  1706.  Statutes  at  Large  of  Pennsylvania, 
Vol.  II,  page  251.  Calvin  G.  Beitel,  author  of  "A  Treatise  on  the 
Poor  Laws  of  Pennsylvania",  Philadelphia  1899,  says,  "The  earliest 
legislation  on  record,  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
enacted  by  the  Colonial  Assembly  A.  D.  1700,  and  was  entitled,  'An 
Act  for  the  better  provision  of  the  poor'.     This  is  a  reference  to  the 

187 


188  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN"  PENNSYLVANIA. 

After  providing  for  the  appointment  of  overseers  of 
the  poor,  the  act  proceeds  to  give  these  officers  the  power 
to  levy  taxes  and  collect  them;  it  also  provides  that  the 
father  and  grandfather  and  the  mother  and  grandmother 
and  the  children  of  every  pauper  shall  be  required  to 
maintain  them.  It  also  gives  authority  to  the  overseers, 
with  the  consent  of  two  or  more  justices  of  the  peace,  to 
apprentice  children  who  are  public  charges.  This  act 
gives  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia within  the  limits  of  their  jurisdiction  the  same 
powers  as  the  overseers  of  the  poor. 

As  the  population,  and  consequently,  the  number  of 
dependents  grew,  the  first  simple  act  proved  insufficient. 
A  considerable  number  of  special  acts  were  passed,  but 
just  a  few  years  prior  to  the  Revolution  the  whole  mat- 
ter was  taken  up  anew  and  an  extensive  and  detailed 
act  was  passed,^  the  preamble  of  which  states,  ''Where- 
as the  laws  hitherto  made  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  have 
not  answered  all  the  good  purposes  that  were  expected 
from  them."  This  act  continues  the  system  of  local 
overseers  of  the  poor.  Apparently  experience  had  led 
them  to  believe  that  there  would  be  some  shirking  of  duty 
by  those  elected  overseers.  Consequently,  we  find  prac- 
tical citizenship  in  those  patriotic  days  enforced  by  the 
following  provision: 

"See.  XIII.  And  be  it  further  enacted  bj'  the  authority 
aforesaid,  That  if  any  person  appointed  as  overseer  of  the  poor 
of  the  City  of  Philadelphia  shall  refuse  or  neglect  to  take  upon 
him  the  said  office,  he  shall  forfeit  twenty  pounds  to  the  over- 
seers of  the  poor  of  said  county  for  the  use  of  the  poor  thereof; 


Act  of  November  27,  1700,  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  II,  p.  20.  This  is 
a  short  act  laying  the  duty  of  relieving  the  poor  on  the  justices  of  the 
peace  and  the  overseer  of  the  poor  of  the  respective  counties.  The 
use  of  the  term  'overseer  of  the  poor'  mthout  explanation,  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  there  had  been  previous  legislation  creating 
such  oflficials. " 

(2)    Act  March  9,  1771,  Statutes  at  Large  of  Penna.     Vol.  VIII, 
p.  75. 


POOR  DISTRICTS  AXD  SCHOOL  DISTRICTS.  189 

and  if  any  person  appointi;d  as  overseer  of  tlie  poor  of  any 
borough,  township  or  place  shall  refuse  or  neglect  to  take  upon 
him  the  said  office,  lie  shall  forfeit  five  pounds  to  the  overseer? 
of  the  poor  of  the  said  borough,  township  or  plac«  for  the  use 
of  the  poor  thereof;  and  the  said  forfeitures  shall  be  levied  bv 
warrant  from  any  two  justices  of  the  peace  of  the  county,  of  any 
two  magistrates  of  the  City  of  Philadeli)liia  respectively,  under 
their  hands  and  seals,  on  the  goods  and  chattels  of  such  person 
or  persons  so  neglecting  or  refusing,  and  sold  within  three  days 
next  after  such  distress  made;  and  if  there  happen  any  overplus 
upon  sales  thereof,  the  same  shall  be  paid  to  the  owner  or 
owners;  reasonable  charges  being  first  deducted;  and  if  such  per- 
son or  persons  so  neglecting  or  refusing  as  aforesaid,  shall  not 
have  goods  or  chattels  wliereby  he  or  they  may  be  distrained  as 
aforesaid,  that  then  the  said  justices  may  commit  the  offender 
or  offenders  to  prison,  there  to  remain  without  bail  or  mainprise 
till  the  said  forefeitures  shall  be  fully  satisfied  and  paid." 

In  this  act  we  have  the  first  germ  of  the  law  which 
has  since  developed  into  a  considerable  system  and  is 
administered  in  the  domestic  relations  court,  ''And 
whereas  it  sometimes  happens  that  men  separate  them- 
selves without  reasonable  cause  from  their  wives  and 
desert  their  children,  and  women  also  desert  their  chil- 
dren, leaving  them  a  charge  upon  the  said  cities  or  upon 
some  borough,  township  or  place  aforesaid,  although 
such  person  may  have  estate  which  would  contribute  to 
the  maintenance  of  such  wives  or  children,"  then  the  act 
goes  on  to  provide  that  such  people  may  be  properly 
dealt  with.  This  act  differs  principally  from  its  simpler 
predecessor  in  most  elaborate  provisions  for  determin- 
ing the  settlement  of  a  pauper,  that  is,  tlie  particular 
place  that  must  be  responsible  for  him.  The  pauper 
community  must  have  been  felt  to  be  a  very  considerable 
burden,  or  such  care  would  not  be  exercised  to  see  that  it 
was  fairly  distributed. 

By  section  15,  poor  districts  are  erected  into  numici- 
pal  corporations.  As  the  distinction  between  the  munici- 
pal corporation  and  a  mere  descriptive  division  of  the 
State  is  always  a  little  difficult  to  grasp,  especially  where 
the  municipal  corporation  is  of  such  a  simple  nature  as 


190  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  poor  district,  it  will  be  worth  while  to  repeat  the  very 
words  of  the  statute  w^hich  started  poor  districts  on  their 
career  as  full  fledged  municipal  corporations : 

Sec.  XY.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  afore- 
said, that  the  said  overseers  of  the  poor  for  the  city,  boroughs, 
district  and  townships  aforesaid  for  the  time  being  respectively 
shall  forever  thereafter,  in  name  and  in  fact,  be  and  they  are 
hereby  declared  to  be  bodies  politic  and  corporate  in  law  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  and  shall  have  perpetual  succession,  and 
by  the  name  of  overseers  of  the  poor  of  the  said  city,  boroughs 
district  and  townshijis  may  sue  and  be  sued  and  j^lead  and  be 
impleaded  in  all  courts  of  judicature  within  this  province,  and 
by  that  name  shall  and  may  purchase,  take  or  receive  any  lands, 
tenements  or  hereditaments,  goods,  chattels,  sum  or  sums  of 
money  not  exceeding  in  the  whole,  including  all  gifts,  grants, 
devises  and  bequests  heretofore  made,  the  aforesaid  yearlj^  value 
of  five  hundred  pounds,  to  and  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the 
poor  of  each  of  the  said  cities,  or  each  of  the  said  boroughs,  dis- 
tricts or  townships  respectively,  of  the  gift,  alienation  or  de\dse 
of  any  person  or  persons  whomsoever,  to  hold  with  them  the 
said  overseers  and  their  successors  in  the  trust  for  the  use  of 
the  said  poor  forever. 

The  system  erected  by  this  act  created  separate  muni- 
cipal corporations  for  the  administration  of  the  poor 
laws  out  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  its  outlying  districts 
and  the  various  boroughs  and  townships  of  the  remain- 
der of  the  State.  It  is  to  be  particularly  noted  that  none 
of  this  work  was  given  to  the  counties,  nor  were  any  poor 
districts  made  coterminous  with  the  counties.  During  the 
succeeding  century  a  large  amount  of  special  and  gen- 
eral legislation  was  passed  on  the  subject,  the  chief  of 
which  was  the  general  act  of  June  13,  1836,  P.  L.  539. 
These  acts  further  extended  the  general  system  and  elab- 
orated on  the  principles  of  responsibility  of  a  particular 
district  for  the  relief  of  the  poor,  but  they  did  not  work 
any  essential  change  in  the  general  system.  In  1879, 
however,  a  complete  change  of  method  was  inaugurated, 
and  the  counties,  exclusive  of  incorporated  cities,  were 
made  the  poor  districts,  although  the  provisions  pre- 
viously existing  were  not  abolished  until  each  county  had 


POOR  DISTRICTS  AND  SCHOOL  DISTRICTS.  191 

made  adequate  preparations  and  had  so  notified  the  local 
overseers.^ 

SCHOOL  DISTRICTS. 

We  have  here  to  deal  with  school  districts  only  as 
they  find  their  place  in  the  scheme  of  municipal  corpor- 
ations, their  part  in  the  educational  system  having  been 
covered  in  a  preceding-  chapter.^  School  districts  are  of 
four  classes,  graded  according  to  population,  the  first 
class  composed  of  those  having  a  population  of  500,000 
or  more,  the  second  between  30,000  and  500,000,  the  third 
between  5,000  and  30,000  the  fourth  less  than  5,000.  The 
school  districts  have  grown  up  tlirough  a  long  course  of 
legislation.  The  school  code  '  did  not  reconstruct  tlie 
boundaries  of  the  districts,  but  simply  provided  means 
for  future  change  where  found  desirable.  As  a  rule  the 
districts  are  coterminous  with  some  of  the  other  munici- 
pal corporations  of  the  State,  usually  the  small  divisions, 
but  sometimes  the  school  districts  transcend  the  bounds 
of  the  other  municipalities  and  lie  in  more  than  one  of 
them  at  the  same  time. 

There  is  no  question  of  the  school  district  being  a 
municipal  corporation.  The  school  code  distinctly  pro- 
vides : 

The  several  school  districts  in  this  Common- 
wealth, established  by  this  act,  shall  be  and  hereby 
are  vested,  as  bodies  corporate,  with  all  necessary 
powers  to  enable  them  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of 
this  act.^ 

And  again: 

Each  school  district  in  this  Commonwealth  shall 


(3)  Act  June  4,  1879,  P.  L.  78. 

(4)  Chapter  IX. 

(5)  Act  May  18,  1911,  P.  L.  309. 

(6)  Ibid.  Sec.  119. 


192  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

have  the  right  to  sue  and  be  sued  in  its  corporate 
name.  Any  legal  process  against  any  school  district 
shall  be  served  on  the  president  or  secretary  of  its 
board  of  school  directors.' 

School  districts  are  also  given  power  to  receive  gifts, 
bequests,  etc.,*^  to  levy  and  collect  taxes  ^  and  to  borrow 
money  and  issue  bonds. ^"  The  possession  of  all  these 
powers  goes  to  show  not  only  that  the  school  district  is 
a  municipal  corporation,  but  that  it  possesses  quite  a 
high  degree  of  organization. 

Consideration  of  the  description  given  in  the  preced- 
ing pages  of  the  various  municipal  corporations  will 
make  it  clear  that  all  of  the  various  governmental  divis- 
ions are  not  of  the  same  order,  not  merely  "part  of  the 
government,"  but  are  each  individual,  having  each  its 
own  life  and  its  own  rigidly  circumscribed  sphere  of 
action.  Over  all  presides  the  Commonwealth,  giving  to 
each  all  the  power  that  it  possesses,  and,  exercising  its 
own  power  uninterfered  with  by  the  existence  of  its  own 
local  governmental  agents.  The  high  importance  of  the 
State  is  thus  brought  to  light  and  when  this  importance 
is  once  grasped  it  is  difficult  thereafter  to  consider  State 
affairs  as  negligible  or  to  treat  them  with  indifference. 

(7)  Ibid.  Sec.  123. 

(8)  Ibid.  See.  126. 

(9)  Ibid.  See.  402. 

(10)  Ibid.  Sees.  505,  506,  507,  508. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


PARTIES  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 


THE  previous  chapters  have  suggested  something 
of  the  possibilities  of  the  State  government  for 
good  or  evil  and  have  indicated  tlie  complicated 
and  delicate  machinery  by  which  it  is  run.  The  follow- 
ing will  point  out  the  channels  through  which  the  action 
of  the  State  may  be  influenced  by  the  individual.  Mere 
criticism  is  the  method  adopted  by  many,  a  method  which 
seldom  attains  its  end.  Constant  constructive  effort  is 
required.  To  become  a  helper,  not  a  critic,  is  the  first 
step  in  practical  citizenship.  When  once  this  step  is 
taken  there  opens  an  infinite  vista  of  opportunity.  The 
remainder  of  the  book  will  be  devoted  to  assisting  the 
citizen  who  has  made  up  his  mind  to  take  some  helpful 
part  in  the  affairs  of  government. 

The  first  problem  encountered  in  making  democracy 
actually  work  is  to  find  some  scheme  for  securing  unity 
of  action  amid  the  multiplicity  of  individual  wills.  Lack- 
ing this,  any  agglomeration  of  human  beings  would  be 
a  mob — yes,  worse  than  a  mob,  for  even  a  mob  acts  by 
a  common  impulse  and  has  its  collective  mob  psychology. 
In  early  days  there  were  times  when  this  unity  could  be 
attained  only  by  some  form  of  compulsion  whereby  the 
willing  was  done  by  one  and  obeying  by  the  rest.  This 
simple  scheme  is  in  vogue  to-day  in  military  matters, 
and  for  effectively  achieving  its  purpose  of  collective 
action  no  better  scheme  has  ever  been  invented.  Unfor- 
tunately, the  military  form  of  government  sacrifices  too 
much  that  we  hold  dear,  so  resort  must  be  had  to  some 
method  of  securing  unity  of  action  which  is  based  on 
the  voluntary  adhesion  of  the  citizen.    The  method  which 


10:5 


13 


194  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  experience  of  mankind  has  evolved  for  tliis  purpose 
is  the  Party.  It  is  a  crude  instrument  at  best,  but  as 
the  only  one  available,  it  is  worthy  of  careful  study. 

A  party  is  a  voluntary  association  of  citizens  banded 
together  for  working  out  in  govermnental  action  the 
principles  which  form  the  basis  of  their  co-operation. 

Though  there  are  in  existence  a  great  enough  variety 
of  principles  to  give  a  basis  of  cohesion  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  parties,  yet,  if  every  variety  of  principles  were 
to  form  the  basis  of  a  party  the  electorate  would  be  split 
up  into  a  great  number  of  petty  groups,  no  one  of  which 
would  be  of  a  size  sufficient  to  gain  control  of  the  gov- 
ernment. Minor  differences  of  opinion,  therefore,  are 
sunk,  and  parties  organized  only  on  the  basis  of  some 
issue  great  enough  to  interest  the  whole  electorate. 

In  this  is  the  danger  of  party.  The  candidates  who 
are  elected  on  the  strength  of  their  position  upon  a  single 
great  issue  are  required  to  decide  many  quite  different 
problems.  Thus  a  congressman  elected  upon  a  sound 
money  platform  may  be  called  upon  to  vote  upon  the 
tariff  bill.  It  might  well  be  that  many  of  his  constituents 
who  approved  his  views  on  the  money  question  would 
heartily  disapprove  his  views  on  the  tariff.  Thus  a 
party  frequently  effects  ends  for  which  the  people  have 
not  commissioned  it,  and,  to  that  extent,  democracy 
breaks  down.  The  consciousness  of  this  weakness  in  the 
representative  system  has  given  birth  to  the  movement 
for  the  initiative  and  referendum.  This  movement  seeks 
to  make  every  question  of  any  importance  separable 
from  every  other  and  to  permit  it  to  be  presented  to  the 
people  for  their  immediate  determination,  uncompli- 
cated by  party  or  other  considerations.^ 

(1)  Until  lately  it  might  have  been  said  that  mention  of  the 
initiative  and  referendum  had  no  place  in  a  description  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, but  not  now,  for  the  initiative  and  referendum  are  now  parts 
of  the  system  of  government  of  cities  of  the  third  class.  See  chapter 
XVII. 


PARTIES  IN   PENNSYLVANIA.  195 

The  inherent  difficulty  in  the  party  system  is  thus 
seen  to  be  the  fact  that  it  influences  government  in  so 
many  ways  that  are  irrelevant  to  the  issue  upon  which 
the  successful  party  gains  its  power.  This  difficulty 
would  not  be  so  serious  if  voters  would  change  their  party 
as  each  new  issue  arose,  but  mankind  is  much  addicted 
to  loyalties,  and  is  manacled  by  habits.  When  once  a 
voter's  affections  have  gone  out  to  a  party  he  is  apt 
to  stick  by  it  through  thick  and  thin.  This  fact  is  known 
and  counted  on  by  party  leaders  and  is  used  for  their 
own  ends.  Habit  performs  much  the  same  service  as 
loyalty,  and  men  who  cast  their  first  vote  to  stay  the 
march  of  slavery  or  save  the  union,  are  sometimes  led 
by  habit  to  vote  into  local  power  men  whom,  as  individ- 
uals, they  could  not  respect. 

The  relationship  of  State  and  nation  offers  a  clear  il- 
lustration of  the  frequent  irrelevancy  of  party  organiza- 
tion. The  problems  of  our  State  government  have  little 
in  common  with  those  of  the  nation,  and  yet  the  voters 
aggregate  themselves  into  parties  on  the  basis  of  na- 
tional issues,  and  then  permit  the  political  leaders  to 
use  the  parties  thus  created  to  rule  the  affairs  of  the 
State. 

The  evils  arising  from  the  irrelevancy  of  the  party 
system  are  clearly  recognized,  and  three  different  lines 
of  improvement  have  been  suggested.  Most  radical  is 
the  initiative  and  referendum,  of  which  mention  has  been 
made.  The  second  line  of  improvement,  an  extremely 
practical  one,  recognizes  things  as  they  are  and  sees 
clearly  that  if  all  questions  are  to  be  decided  by  party 
action,  whether  relevant  or  irrelevant  to  its  principles, 
it  should  at  least  be  made  possible  for  the  people  to  con- 
trol their  own  party  machinery.  This  line  of  reason- 
ing produces  the  uniform  primary.  The  third  effort  to- 
ward improvement  is  somewhat  more  idealistic.  While 
it  recognizes  that  party  action  is  necessary,  it  seeks  to 


196  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

keep  party  action  relevant  by  organizing  a  greater  num- 
ber of  parties  as  the  issues  multiply,  or  to  suppress  par- 
ties entirely  where  no  party  issue  is  possible.  This 
method  of  thinking  produces  parties  limited  to  the  State 
(e.  g.,  Keystone  Party,  Lincoln  Party)  or  to  a  single 
city  (e.  g..  City  Party,  Philadelphia  Party,  William  Penn 
Party,  Franklin  Party),  and  non-partisan  ballot  laws, 
such  as  that  now  in  force  in  the  election  of  judges. 

The  party  system  had  not  received  recognition  at  the 
time  of  the  adoption  of  the  United  States  Constitution, 
and  it  was  recognized  by  law  very  gradually.  In  Penn- 
sylvania, nothing  more  was  attempted  at  first  than  to 
facilitate  the  act  of  party  voting  and  to  permit  of  party 
nominations  and  party  groupings  upon  the  ballot,  no 
effort  being  made  to  regulate  by  law  the  internal  con- 
struction of  a  party,  or  the  integrity  of  its  acts.  This 
produced  a  bosses'  paradise.  G-radually  the  law  has 
more  and  more  enveloped  and  fixed  the  party.  However, 
there  is  difficulty  here.  As  we  defined  party,  it  is  a 
voluntary  association.  As  such  it  is  very  hard  to  reach 
by  law.  The  State  can,  of  course,  regulate  as  much  as 
it  pleases  any  body  of  men  whom  it  recognizes  as  a 
party,  but  it  cannot  prevent  men  from  banding  them- 
selves together  in  a  virtual  but  unavowed  manner  for 
the  purpose  of  influencing  the  formal  action  of  the  regu- 
lated party.  Thus  they  achieve  their  end  and  escape 
regulation. 

The  two  theories,  that  of  party  regulation  by  statute 
and  that  of  minimizing  party  by  means  of  non-partisan 
elections,  were  both  effective  in  moulding  the  election 
legislation  of  the  session  of  1913.  Strange  bed  fellows 
these, — the  party  enrollment  act  and  the  non-partisan 
ballot  act  of  that  year.  They  were  the  last  steps  yet 
taken  in  the  direction  of  the  two  theories  mentioned.  In- 
deed, the  non-partisan  ballot  might  be  spoken  of  as  the 
first  step,  as  well  as  the  last  step,  for  it  is  practically 


PARTIES  IN   PENNSYLVANIA.  197 

the  only  step  in  this  direction.  The  ballot  laws  have 
always  made  non-partisan  voting  possible,  but  have 
never  before  encouraged  it. 

The  party  enrollment  act  completed  the  work  begun 
by  the  uniform  primary  act.  As  soon  as  party  becomes 
an  effective  engine  in  government,  it  is  important  to 
know  how  party  policy  can  be  controlled.  This  aspect 
of  the  case  was  for  a  long  time  unrecognized  except  by 
the  astute  political  leaders.  By  making  their  influence 
felt  in  the  nomination  of  candidates  and  the  construc- 
tion of  platfoiTus,  they  could  wield  a  decisive  influence  in 
governmental  affairs  without  seeming  to  take  any  part 
in  government  at  all.  For  a  long  time  the  average  voter, 
who  would  have  joined  a  revolution  had  his  vote  been 
taken  away  from  him,  seemed  to  be  indifferent  to  the 
fact  that  there  was  no  protection  at  all  of  his  right  to 
participate  in  party  management,  although  outside  of 
party  management  there  was  really  no  effective  method 
of  influencing  government.  Finally,  however,  the  voters 
came  to  a  realization  that  they  must  protect  their  rights 
at  the  springs  of  party  action,  and  so  uniform,  or  in 
other  words,  law-controlled,  primaries,  were  instituted. 
One  final  step  was  necessary  to  complete  the  legal  recog- 
nition of  parties.  Just  as  personal  registration  is  neces- 
sary to  secure  an  accurate  voting  list  for  the  election  and 
an  authoritative  register  of  those  who  have  a  right  to 
vote,  so  an  authoritative  list  must  be  made  of  those 
who  have  a  right  to  participate  in  the  primaries  of  the 
several  parties.  To  secure  such  a  list  the  party  enroll- 
ment law  was  enacted.  On  the  other  hand  the  non-parti- 
san ballot  act  casts  aside  the  party  theory  entirely  and 
proceeds  upon  the  assumption  that  the  voter  should  not 
be  hampered  by  party  considerations  in  choosing  be- 
tween the  various  individuals  in  nomination. 

A  more  detailed  consideration  will  be  given  to  these 
laws  in  an  appropriate  place,  but  here  it  is  pertinent  to 


198  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

inquire  as  to  the  probable  outcome  of  the  working  of 
these  two  seemingly  opposed  theories,  one  seeking  to  en- 
courage, the  other  to  destroy  the  party  system. 

The  answer  is  that  the  principles  are  not  mutually 
destructive,  but  that  each  limits  the  excess  of  the  other, 
and  that  they  will  probably  come  to  equilibrium  when  the 
legitimate  bounds  of  party  action  are  generally  agreed 
upon.  Wherever  questions  arise  of  such  a  nature  that 
they  must  be  settled  ultimately  by  public  opinion,  and 
when  these  questions  are  fundamental  and  far  reaching, 
parties  will  arise  to  enforce  the  will  of  large  groups  of 
like-thinking  people.  It  would  be  entirely  futile,  as  well 
as  unwise,  to  attempt  to  hinder  this  process,  but  it  should 
always  be  borne  in  mind  that  no  party  ought  to  be  kept 
in  power  by  means  irrelevant  to  its  reason  for  existence. 
Patronage,  unfair  ballot  laws,  inertia  of  public  opinion, 
all  these  support  dying  parties,  but  do  so  to  the  detri- 
ment of  the  public  interest.  It  is  a  matter  deeply  to  be 
regretted  that  the  vital  questions  that  arise  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  our  State  do  not  seem  to  be  of  wide  enough 
interest  to  lead  to  the  formation  of  purely  State  parties, 
and  thereby  the  State  is  the  loser.  In  the  cities,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  issues  are  clear  enough  to  produce  purely 
local  parties,  though  these  parties  are  shamefully  handi- 
capped by  the  inability  of  the  voters  to  shake  themselves 
free  from  their  habit  of  follo^^ang  blindly  their  national 
parties.  In  the  State  largely,  in  the  city  almost  com- 
pletely, and  in  the  judiciary  entirely,  the  voter  is  inter- 
ested rather  in  the  integrity  and  capacity  of  the  public 
officer  than  in  his  party  standing.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  national  affairs  the  voter  is  primarily  interested  in 
certain  great  policies,  and  he  is  apt  to  view  the  public 
officer  as  an  automaton  destined  to  carry  out  those  poli- 
cies according  to  the  behests  of  the  successful  party. 

These  being  the  underlying  facts,  it  is  probable  that 
the  fullest  legal  recognition    will    always    be    given    to 


PARTIES  IN   PENNSYLVANIA.  199 

national  parties  and  tliat  tliey  will  be  so  regulated  as 
to  belong  to  their  members  rather  than  to  their  leader. 
To  this  end  presidential  primaries  will  probably  become 
universal.  But  parties  having  no  real  reason  for  exis- 
tence will  be  discouraged.  In  electing  representative 
bodies,  proportional  representation  -  will  be  introduced, 
and  the  voters  will  vote  for  the  man  rather  than  the 
party.  All  local  officers  will  be  elected  on  a  non-partisan 
ballot,  as  judges  are  under  the  1913  legislation. 

The  State  officers  represent  the  meeting  line  of  the 
two  tendencies.  If  enough  interest  can  be  aroused  in 
State  questions  to  justify  State  parties,  such  parties  will 
probably  come  to  be  realities,  but  if  the  present  condi- 
tion of  general  inditference  toward  State  matters  con- 
tinues, it  is  probable  that,  in  time.  State  officers  also  will 
be  elected  on  a  non-partisan  ballot." 

It  is  clear  by  this  time  that  the  practical  citizen  must 
act  with  some  party.  He  will,  of  course,  exercise  his  best 
individual   discretion   in    the   non-partisan    voting   now 


(2)  Proportional  representation  is  a  system  by  means  of  which 
the  faults  of  representative  government  due  to  our  method  of  em- 
ploying geographical  districts  as  election  units  are  corrected.  In- 
stead, the  representatives  are  elected  by  a  constituency  gathered  from 
any  part  of  the  city  or  state,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  as  everybody 
places  himself  in  one  of  these  constituencies,  no  one  remains  unre- 
l^resented.  Under  the  present  system  there  is  always  a  large  unre- 
presented minority,  frequently  amounting  to  but  little  less  than  half 
the  voters.  When  the  inequalities  of  the  geographical  system  are 
consciously  employed,  the  process  is  known  as  gerrymandering.  The 
subject  of  proportional  representation  seems  obscure  until  sufficient 
attention  has  been  given  it  really  to  understand  it,  but  when  once 
this  is  done,  the  wonder  is  that  it  was  not  long  ago  adopted.  Ashtabula, 
Ohio,  has  the  honor  of  being  the  first  community  in  the  United  States 
to  adopt  proportional  representation,  having  done  so  on  August  10, 
1915,  The  American  Proportional  Representation  League  stands 
ready  to  furnish  information  to  anyone  interested  in  this  subject. 
Address,  C.  G.  Hoag,  General  Secretary,  802  Franklin  Bank  Bldg., 
Philadelphia. 

(3)  This  issue  arose  in  the  election  of  1915  in  California,  and 
the  voters  rejected  non-partisan  elections  for  state  offices. 


200  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

permitted,  and  he  may  desire  either  that  the  party  sys- 
tem or  the  non-party  system  be  extended,  but  as 
things  stand  either  desire  can  be  achieved  only 
by  the  success  of  some  party  whose  principles 
embody  it.  Consequently  it  becomes  of  interest 
to  know  what  legally  constitutes  a  party  and  how  a  voter 
may  become  a  member  of  one. 

Any  group  of  citizens  acting  together  to  influence 
governmental  action  constitutes  a  real  -party,  but  such  a 
party  is  not  necessarily  recognized  by  law.  It  must  first 
prove  its  right  to  existence.  Each  of  the  parties  entails 
a  certain  burden  of  expense  on  the  public  in  the  way 
of  printing  ballots  and  providing  various  other  election 
material  and  it  is  proper  that  no  party  should  be  recog- 
nized by  the  State  unless  it  is  large  enough  to  become 
a  factor  in  an  election. 

The  State-wide  uniform  primary  act  ^  completely  de- 
fines what  a  party  is.  This  act  makes  a  very  just  dis- 
tinction between  a  party  in  the  State  and  a  party  in  a 
county.  As  long  as  the  law  has  not  yet  advanced  far 
enough  to  provide  non-partisan  elections  for  all  local 
officials,  the  only  way  of  escape  from  the  absurd  division 
along  national  lines  in  local  affairs  is  the  creation  of 
strictly  local  parties.  It  is  evident  that  it  would  not  be 
fair  to  such  purely  local  parties  to  require  them  to 
qualify  for  party  existence  in  the  same  way  that  could 
reasonably  be  required  of  a  party  operating  throughout 
the  whole  State. 

A  party  within  the  State  is  defined  by  the  primary 
law  (sec.  2)  as  follows: 

"Any  party  or  body  of  electors,  one  of  whose 
candidates  .at  the  general  election  next  preceding  the 
primary  (i.  e.,  the  primary  at  which  the  party  seeks 
a  place  on  the  ballot)  polled  in  each  of  at  least  ten 
counties  of  the  State  not  less  than  two  per  centum 
(4)  Act  July  12,  1913,  P.  L.  719. 


PARTIES   IN    PENNSYLVANIA.  201 

of  the  largest  entire  vote  east  in  each  of  said  coun- 
ties for  any  elected  candidate,  and  polled  a  total 
vote  in  the  State  equal  to  at  least  two  per  centum 
of  the  largest  entire  vote  cast  in  the  State  for  any 
elected  candidate,  is  hereby  declared  to  be  a  political 
party  within  the  State." 

This  definition  requires  that  the  party  shall  have 
actual  existence  in  at  least  ten  of  the  sixty-seven  coun- 
ties of  the  State  and  so  be  more  than  a  merely  local  af- 
fair. It  should  be  noted  that  the  existence  of  a  State 
party  depends  on  the  vote  at  a  general,  or  State-wide 
election.  It  is  also  important  to  note  that  the  two  per 
centum  necessary  is  based  upon  the  largest  entire  vote 
of  any  elected  candidate.  This  means  that  in  ascertain- 
ing tlie  base  upon  which  to  calculate  the  two  per  centum 
it  is  necessary  to  add  together  the  vote  which  the  higliest 
candidate  received  from  all  sources.  This  is  sometimes 
apt  to  work  in  a  peculiar  way.  If  a  candidate  should  be 
endorsed  by  all  of  the  principal  parties  his  entire  vote 
would  practically  be  the  entire  vote  polled  and 
two  per  centum  of  this  total  would  be  about 
equal  to  four  per  centum  of  a  normal  majority  party  vote. 
However,  even  the  requirement  of  four  per  centum  could 
hardly  be  thought  a  hardship  by  any  party  with  any  real 
vitality. 

A  party  within  a  county  is  defined  as  follows: 

*'Any  party  or  body  of  electors,  one  of  whose 
candidates  at  either  the  general  or  municipal  elec- 
tion preceding  the  primary  polled  at  least  five  per 
centum  of  the  largest  entire  vote  cast  for  any  elected 
candidate  in  any  county,  is  hereby  declared  to  be 
a  political  party  within  said  county." 

Note  that  a  local  party  requires  five  per  cent,  instead 
of  two  per  cent,  of  the  largest  entire  vote. 

A  voter  becomes  a  member  of  a  party  by  voting  for 


202  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

a  majority  of  the  candidates  of  that  party.^  In  calcu- 
lating this  majority,  the  group  of  pi-esidential  electors 
is  counted  as  but  two  candidates,  since  the  whole  group 
simply  represents  the  candidates  for  president  and  vice- 
president. 

Membership  in  a  party  is  gained  by  voting  its  ticket, 
but  the  voter  reads  his  title  clear  in  the  party  enroll- 
ment. Enrollment  provisions  are  found  in  the  personal 
registration  act  for  cities  of  the  first  and  second  class 
and  in  the  State-wide  primary  act,  but  the  basic  statute 
is  the  enrollment  act.^  By  its  provisions,  one  of  the 
questions  asked  the  voter  when  registering  is,  ''What 
party  are  you  a  member  of?"  He  is  not  compelled  to 
answer  this  question,  but  unless  he  does  so  he  will  not 
be  able  to  vote  at  the  next  party  primary.  He  will  be 
able,  however,  to  participate  in  the  nomination  of  candi- 
dates to  be  voted  for  at  the  non-partisan  election. 

In  the  State  outside  the  cities,  where  personal  regis- 
tration is  not  provided  for,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  tax 
assessors,  when  making  their  rounds  for  the  purpose  of 
making  up  the  voting  list,  to  enquire  of  the  voter  his 
party  membership,  and  enroll  him  accordingly.  In  case 
the  voter  is  not  at  liome  when  the  assessor  calls,  he 
leaves  an  enrollment  blank  which  the  voter  may  fill  out 
and  forward  to  the  assessor.  As  this  system  lacks  most 
of  the  safeguards  that  are  thrown  around  the  personal 
registration  system,  and  as  voters  are  apt  to  be  apathetic 
about  sending  in  their  enrollment  certificates,  it  is  gener- 
ally felt  that  the  assessors  have  a  rather  undue  influence 
in  determining  a  voter's  party  standing. 

The  enrollment  of  voters  according  to  their  party 
membership  provides  an  accurate  list  of  voters  qualified 
to  take  part  in  the  management  of  their  parties.  In  the 
old  days  of  the  soap  box  primary  there  was  absolutely 

(5)  Act  July  25,  1913,  P.  L.  1043. 

(6)  Act  July  25,  1913,  P.  L.  1043. 


PARTIES  IN    PENNSYLVANIA.  203 

no  protection  for  the  honest  party  member.  The  ordi- 
naiy  method  of  conducting  a  primary  was  to  have  the 
voter  appear  before  the  window  of  a  house  and  pass  his 
ballot  through  to  party  officers  inside  who  deposited  it 
in  a  box  improvised  from  the  corner  grocery.  Hence  the 
name.  '\^Tiat  happened  to  the  ballot  after  it  passed 
through  the  window  was  known  only  to  the  men  "on  the 
inside."  A  case  has  been  reported  where  one  of  the 
tellers  swallowed  many  of  the  opposition  ballots.'  As 
there  were  no  official  ballots,  and  no  list  of  voters,  it  is 
evident  that  there  was  no  check  on  surreptitiously  de- 
stroyed ballots.  Even  supposing  that  the  ballots  cast 
were  preserved  and  honestly  counted,  still  there  was  no 
guaranty  that  those  casting  them  were  really  party  mem- 
bers. If  the  party  leader  was  experiencing  difficulties 
from  rebellion  in  his  ranks,  he  could  call  on  the  leader  of 
the  opposite  party  for  a  battalion  of  his  trusties.  The 
insurgents  could  protest,  of  course,  but  could  do  little 
else.  Primaries  were  strictly  party  affairs  and  their 
disputes  had  to  be  settled  by  party  rules  and  before 
party  tribunals.  Insurgents  were  not  apt  to  get  much 
comfort  out  of  a  party  tribunal. 

Until  the  enrollment  act  was  passed,  party  raiding 
was  a  popular  pastime.  It  is  true  that  under  the  first 
primary  act  of  1906,  voting  in  each  party  primaiy  was 
restricted  to  those  who  claimed  membership  in  the  party, 
but,  under  the  law,  a  voter  could  have  any  ballot  he  re- 
quested, unless  challenged,  and  the  practical  politician 
hates  to  challenge,  it  makes  too  many  enemies.  This  re- 
luctance to  challenge  is  especially  noted  in  some  of  the 
divisions  whore  physical  violence  is  counted  a  legitimate 
political  instrument. 

That  the  practice  of  party  raiding  is  not  an  imagin- 
ary proceeding,  is  proved  by  the  experience  of  the  oppo- 

(7)  It  is  needless  to  state  that  this  occurred  before  the  days  of 
the  blanket  ballot. 


204  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

sition  to  the  Republican  Organization  in  Philadelphia  be- 
tween 1906  and  1912.  Beginning  as  the  City  Party,  they 
became  successively  the  Philadelphia  Party,  the  William 
Penn  Party,  and  the  Keystone  Party.  No  party  would 
moult  its  name  each  Spring  but  for  good  reasons.  The 
reason  was  imperative.  At  the  first  opportunity  the 
Organization,  whose  trained  cohorts  always  turn  out  in 
force  at  primary  elections,  directed  its  henchmen  to  mas- 
querade as  of  the  opposition  in  sufficient  force  to  swamp 
the  less  disciplined  independents  and  select  organiza- 
tion followers  as  candidates  upon  the  independent  tick- 
ets. The  independents  had  no  way  then  of  voting  for 
their  own  candidates  but  that  of  creating  a  brand  new" 
party.  They  might  well  say  that  they  were  pilgrims, 
that  theirs  was  no  continuing  city.  One  of  the  greatest 
demonstrations  of  independent  thought  and  action  ever 
seen  in  this  none  too  independent  State,  was  the  way  in 
which  the  body  of  independent  voters  abandoned  party 
after  party  to  the  pirates  and  transferred  themselves  to 
the  new  launched  ship,  seemingly  without  loss  of  strength 
in  the  process. 

The  launching  of  a  new  party  is  an  operation  in 
which  every  practical  citizen  is  likely  to  be  called  upon 
to  assist,  hence  it  should  be  described.  The  first  thing 
the  new  party  group  must  do  is  to  name  themselves  and 
arrange  to  have  the  name  recorded  in  such  a  way  that 
no  other  group  can  dispossess  them  of  it. 

The  law  ^  provides  that  any  five  members  of  a  party 
may  file  an  affidavit  with  the  prothonotary  of  the  county 
where  the  nomination  papers  are  to  be  filed  that  their 
party  has  adopted  a  certain  appellation.  Thereafter  this 
party  will  have  exclusive  right  to  the  use  of  this  name. 
Sometimes  when  it  is  evident  that  a  new  party  is  to 
be  launched,  an  amusing  scramble  takes  place  to  see 
who  can  first  pre-empt  a  popular  title.  The  classical  in- 
(8)  Act  July  9,  1897,  See.  1,  P.  L.  223. 


PARTIES    IN    PENNSYLVANIA.  205 

stance  of  this  was  the  birth  of  the  Washington  Party. 
In  the  summer  of  1912  the  National  Progressive  Party 
came  into  being.  It  was  at  once  evident  that  a  progress- 
ive party  would  be  launched  in  Pennsylvania,  and  its 
great  problem  was  how  to  get  itself  named  by  its  friends. 
Its  astute  enemies,  taking  time  by  the  forelock,  had  al- 
ready pre-empted  the  name  Progressive  as  well  as  al- 
most every  combination  of  Avords  that  might  seem  at- 
tractive to  progressive  voters. 

The  task  of  getting  a  State- wide  party  named 
is  almost  staggering.  As  far  as  nominating  can- 
didates for  State  offices  is  concerned,  there  is  no 
special  difficulty.  It  is  only  necessary  for  five 
electors  to  file  their  affidavit  in  the  office  of  the  pro- 
thonotary  of  Dauphin  County.  But  where  a  new  party 
is  desirous  of  carrying  on  a  campaign  in  the  various 
counties  also  it  is  necessary  to  find  five  electors  in  each 
case  to  make  the  pre-emption  for  local  purposes.  It  is 
necessary  to  do  this  simultaneously  all  over  the  State, 
else,  as  soon  as  the  name  to  be  used  were  disclosed,  the 
enemy  would  be  sure  to  capture  it  in  some,  if  not  many, 
counties.  The  same  principle  applies  even  down  to 
wards  and  election  divisions. 

In  the  case  of  the  progressive  voters  in  1912,  the 
name  Progressive  being  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  it 
was  deemed  wise  to  pre-empt  simultaneously  in  every 
county  of  the  State  three  several  names.  So  success- 
fully was  this  done,  so  vigorously  yet  so  secretly  was  the 
work  carried  forward  that  all  three  were  pre-empted  in 
each  county  inside  of  twenty-four  hours.  The  name 
Washington  was  selected  as  the  most  available  of  the 
three.  The  name  ''Bull  Moose"  was  also  used  by  the 
same  interests  in  order  to  allow  of  the  straight  ticket 
voting  of  certain  local  variations,  and  these  two  parties, 
born  in  a  night,  with  their  combined  votes  swept  the 
State,  leaving  the  Republican  Party,  whicli  liad  liitlierto 


206  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

dominated  the  State  so  completely,  to  trail  along  after 
the  Democrats. 

After  the  new  party  is  named,  it  is  necessary  to  prove 
that  it  has  substance  before  it  can  be  allowed  a  place  on 
the  official  ballot.  This  is  done  by  securing  sufficient 
names  to  the  petition  placing  the  candidates  of  the  new 
party  in  nomination.'' 

It  is  evident  that  the  five  electors  who  have  pre- 
empted a  party  name  in  any  district,  control  the  situa- 
tion as  far  as  nominations  by  the  party  whose  name  they 
have  secured  is  concerned,  for  any  petition  which  they 
refuse  to  endorse  cannot  avail  to  nominate  under  the 
name  which  they  own.  Occasionally  this  gives  undue 
power  to  the  five  instruments  of  the  party,  but  the  diffi- 
culty soon  rights  itself,  since,  if  the  party  receives  the 
requisite  vote  at  the  election  it  achieves  official  recogni- 
tion as  a  party,  and  its  future  nominations  must  be  made 
at  the  uniform  primaries. 


(9)  In  the  ease  of  state  candidates,  this  number  is  one-half  of  one 
per.  cent,  of  the  largest  vote  for  any  officer  elected  in  the  State  at 
the  last  preceding  election  at  which  a  state  officer  was  voted  for,  and 
in  the  case  of  local  candidates,  two  per  cent,  of  the  highest  vote  for 
any  officer  elected  at  the  last  election  in  the  locality.  cf.  Act  July 
9,  1897,  See.  1,  P.  L.  223. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


REGISTRATION, 


NOT  every  person  is  an  elector.  Consequently  it  is 
necessary  that  some  means  be  provided  of  ascer- 
taining who  is  entitled  to  vote,  and  of  making-  this 
information  available  to  tlie  officers  who  are  charged 
with  the  conduct  of  the  election.  But,  until  recently, 
this  work  was  very  inadequately  performed,  Tlie  lists 
were  prepared  by  the  assessors,  and  their  accuracy  de- 
pended entirely  upon  the  activity  and  energj',  to  say 
nothing  of  the  honesty  of  these  officials.  There  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  these  lists  were  sometimes  delib- 
erately padded  with  names  of  non-eligible  or  even  non- 
existent citizens,  and  it  is  an  unquestioned  fact  that  the 
lists  always  contained  a  considerable  proportion  of  dead 
wood  in  the  shape  of  citizens  who  had  died  or  removed 
from  the  voting  division.  The  names  upon  the  as- 
sessors' lists  which  did  not  represent  qualified  voters, 
quite  irrespective  of  whether  such  names  found  their 
place  upon  the  list  through  fraud,  neglect,  or  change  of 
residence,  could  be  manufactured  into  majorities  by  the 
use  of  repeaters.  These  ballot  criminals  were  frequently 
residents  of  other  States  who  came  here  to  reap  the  har- 
vest of  election  day.  They  would  be  supplied  with  the 
names  of  the  voters  whom  they  were  to  impersonate  and 
would  go  from  division  to  division  casting  their  ballot  in 
the  interests  of  those  wlio  employed  them.  When  there 
were  not  enough  names  improperly  upon  the  assessors' 
lists  the  ballot  criminals  had  anotlier  method  which 
served  their  purpose  equally  well.  This  was  to  have  some 
unauthorized  voter  impersonate  some  qualified  citizen 
who  had  not  yet  voted.    When  the  actual  citizen  did  come, 

207 


208  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

he  was  told  that  the  record  showed  that  he  had  voted 
already,  and  if  he  made  a  fuss  he  was  threatened  with 
arrest  for  repeating!  But  times  have  changed.  Not 
long  ago  some  election  officers  got  into  serious  trouble 
for  refusing  to  allow  men  to  vote  whose  names  had  been 
fraudulently  voted  upon  earlier  in  the  day.^ 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  such  ballot  fraud  as  still 
persists  in  Pennsylvania,  is  accomplished  by  crimes  of 
stealth  and  not  by  police  or  military  intimidation.-  Just 
as  the  business  world  is  never  entirely  free  from  fraud 
and  banks  have  always  to  be  on  the  lookout  against  the 
counterfeiter,  so  the  ballot  crook  who  works  by  stealthy 
means  is  difficult  of  detection.  It  is  always  possible, 
however,  so  to  improve  the  machinery  of  election  as  to 
make  crime  increasingly  difficult,  just  as  the  machinery 
of  business  is  being  constantly  improved  for  the  same 
purpose.  Obviously  the  first  step  in  securing  an  honest 
election  is  to  provide  a  definite  means  for  creating  an 
absolutely  correct  register  of  the  names  of  the  citizens 
who  are  qualified  to  vote,  and  the  only  way  in  which 
this  can  be  done  is  to  require  each  citizen  to  present  him- 
self at  a  definite  time  before  a  body  capable  of  ascertain- 
ing his  right  to  vote.  There  he  establishes  his  identity 
and  his  qualifications,  and  places  on  record  his  signature 
for  the  purpose  of  providing  means  for  his  subsequent 
identification  when  he  comes  to  vote. 

This  process  is  knowTi  as  personal  registration.  To 
secure  a  law  providing  for  personal  registration  was 
the  goal  for  many  years  of  the  haters  of  ballot  crime. 
It  was  not  easy  to  secure  the  passage  of  such  a  law.  As 
is  so  often  the  case  with  reforms,  the  first  step  necessary 
was  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution.  The  makers  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Constitution  seem  to  have  been  much 
more  anxious  to  prevent  the  exclusion  of  voters  than 
the  intrusion  of  repeaters.     Accordingly,  they  provided 

(1)  Commonwealth  vs.  Weiserth,  47  Pa.     Super.  Ct.  592. 

(2)  Written  before  the  Fifth  Ward,  Philadelphia,  episode,  (Sep- 
tember 17,  1917.) 


REGISTRATION.  209 

that  "no  elector  shall  be  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  vot- 
ing by  reason  of  liis  name  not  being  registered."  They 
also  provided  that  "all  laws  for  the  registration  of  elec- 
tors shall  be  uniform  throughout  the  State.  "•'•  The  first 
of  these  provisions  prevented  the  passage  of  any  regis- 
tration act  and  the  second  prevented  any  discrimination 
between  the  cities,  where  the  registration  act  was  needed, 
and  the  rural  districts  where  it  was  not. 

Patient  men  worked  upon  this  problem  for  years,  and 
finally  on  November  5,  1901,  the  people  adopted  the  re- 
quired amendment.  Not  yet,  however,  was  victory 
achieved.  The  people  liad  been  persuaded  tliat  personal 
registration  was  a  desirable  reform,  but  in  this  respect 
at  least  they  were  not  represented  by  their  Legislature. 
Finally  came  the  special  session  of  1906,  the  penitential 
session,  when  the  politicians  were  bowing  before  the 
storm  of  the  people's  wrath  and  anxious  to  placate  it 
by  passing  whatever  was  known  by  the  name  of  reform. 
Tlien  was  the  fullness  of  time  for  personal  registration, 
and  the  two  acts  upon  the  subject  were  passed,  one  for 
cities  of  the  first  and  second  class  "*  and  one  for  cities 
of  the  third  class.-''  Some  amendments  to  the  personal 
registration  act  were  made  in  1907  ''  and  1911.'  All  the 
acts  concerning  personal  registration  for  cities  of  the 
first  and  second  classes  were  repealed  in  1913,  and  a 
completely  new  act  passed. "^  So  it  will  be  necessary  to 
study  only  this  act  to  have  the  whole  law  upon  the  sub- 
ject as  far  as  Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh  and  Scranton  are 
concerned.     Tlie  rest  of  tlie  chapter  Avill  be  devoted  to 


(3)  Art.  VIII,  Sec.  7. 

(4)  Act  February  17,  1906,  P.  L.  49. 

(5)  Act  March  5,  1906,  P.  L.  63. 

(6)  Act  June  3,  1907,  P.  L.  395.     Act  May  25,  1907,  P.  L.  251. 

(7)  Act  June  16,  1911,  P.  L.  993.    Act  June  16,  1911,  P.  L.  1014. 

(8)  Act  July  24.  1913,  P.  L.  977. 

.4 


210  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

a  description  of  the  personal  registration  act  affecting 
these  larger  cities.  The  system  in  force  in  third  class 
cities  is  of  exactly  the  same  nature  and  differs  only  in 
having  more  simple  machinery  and  less  expense  of  oper- 
ation. The  voters  in  the  State  outside  of  the  cities  are 
listed  by  the  assessors,  as  was  done  prior  to  the  intro- 
duction of  the  personal  registration  system. 

Appearing  before  the  registering  officials  and  be- 
coming registered  is  now  a  sine  qua  non  of  voting  in  the 
cities.  The  object  of  this  requirement  of  the  law  is 
threefold:  first,  to  determine  an  intending  voter's  quali- 
fication at  a  time  prior  to  election  day,  so  that  any  con- 
troverted question  can  be  determined  by  the  court  and 
the  polling  place  relieved  of  the  constant  disputes  over 
qualifications  which  were  a  feature  of  voting  under  the 
prior  system;  second,  to  provide  a  correct  list  of  quali- 
fied voters  for  the  guidance  of  the  election  officers;  and, 
third,  to  furnish  means  by  which  the  election  officers  and 
watchers  can  determine  whether  the  applicant  for  a  bal- 
lot is  in  truth  the  person  he  represents  himself  to  be, 

The  chief  officers  of  the  machinery  created  to  put 
the  personal  registration  act  into  effect  are  the 
registration  commissioners,  of  whom  there  are 
four,  composing  the  board  of  registration  com- 
missioners. Not  more  than  two  of  the  commis- 
sioners may  be  members  of  the  same  party.  This  pro- 
vision was  for  the  purpose  of  removing  as  far  as  possi- 
ble the  temptation  to  partisan  action,  for  which  there 
can  be  no  excuse  in  the  work  of  preparing  a  list  of  voters. 
As  there  is  no  known  way  of  insuring  that  the  officers 
in  charge  of  registration  shall  be  non-partisan,  the  idea 
was  adopted  of  making  the  board  bipartisan  or  multipar- 
tisan.  Perhaps  this  idea  was  adopted  from  the  practice 
in  Laputa  as  described  by  Gulliver,  where,  in  order  to 
limit  the  rancors  of  party,  the  heads  of  the  leaders  were 
sa^vn  in  two,  and  each  half  readjusted  to  the  half  of  an 


REGLSTKATION.  211 

opponent,  and  the  married  brains  left  to  fif^lit  it  out  be- 
tween themselves. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  board  is  composed  of  an 
even  number  of  commissioners,  the  danger  of  deadlock 
would  seem  to  be  enormous,  but  whatever  danger  there 
is  of  this  is  more  than  overcome  by  the  advantage  de- 
rived from  the  fact  that  partisan  action  is  still  further 
guarded  against,  since  no  more  than  two  members  may- 
be of  the  same  party  and  since  a  majority  of  the  board  is 
composed  of  three,  at  least  one  minority  member  must 
accede  to  everything  done.  Nevertheless,  in  the  experi- 
ence of  nearly  a  decade,  there  has  been  little  trouble 
resulting  from  deadlocking  of  the  board.  Probably  this 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  commissioners  recognize  at  the 
start  that  any  possibility  of  action  demands  that  they 
shall  show  a  spirit  of  accommodation,  and,  since  their 
duties  require  principally  decision  upon  a  number  of  con- 
crete cases,  rather  than  the  laying  down  of  broad  and 
fundamental  principles,  there  is  ample  room  for  compro- 
mise without  creating  dangerous  precedents. 

The  commissioners  not  later  than  August  15th  of  each 
year  appoint  four  registrars  for  each  election  district. 
These  are  the  officers  that  do  the  actual  registering  of 
the  voters.  They  must  be  duly  qualified  electors  of  the 
district  in  which  they  are  to  serve  and  must  have  been 
residents  of  the  city  for  two  years  and  of  the  ward  one 
year  immediately  preceding  their  appointment.  They 
must  be  sober  and  judicious,  of  good  moral  character, 
able  to  read  intelligently  and  to  write  legibly.  The  regis- 
trars, like  the  commissioners,  are  distributed  among  the 
parties,  and  means  are  carefully  provided  in  the  law 
for  adjusting  the  party  relationship.  The  details  of  this 
adjustment  are  perhaps  a  little  dry  for  the  general 
reader,  but  are  of  the  utmost  importance  to  anyone  in- 
terested in  actual  politics,  because  these  officers  are  the 
only  appointive  officers  with  a  frankly  partisan  qualifi- 


212  STATE   GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

cation,  paid  for  out  of  public  funds.  The  act  intends 
that  the  registrars  shall  in  effect  be  appointed  by  the 
parties  to  which  they  belong,  the  registration  commis- 
sioners simply  exercising  a  supervising  power.  The  pro- 
cedure is  as  follows :  Each  party  suggests  to  the  com- 
missioner the  names  of  two  candidates  for  registrars. 
This  suggestion  is  made  by  petition  signed  by  five  elec- 
tors of  the  district,  and  authenticated  as  coming  from 
the  party  by  the  signatures  of  the  president  and  one  sec- 
retary of  the  ward  executive  committee,  if  there  be  such 
a  committee,  or,  if  none  exists,  by  the  officers  of  the 
city  committee.  The  petition  sets  forth  the  names,  ad- 
dresses, occupations  and  political  affiliations  of  the  per- 
sons suggested,  and  each  candidate  must  swear  to  the 
truth  of  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  petition.  If  the  candi- 
date is  fit,  the  filing  of  his  petition  by  a  party  who  has 
a  right  to  the  places  sought  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  se- 
cure his  appointment,  for  the  commissioners  have  not 
power  to  appoint  any  others  unless  those  nominated  by 
the  party  are  not  qualified.  However,  the  commission- 
er's power  of  supervision  is  not  merely  nominal,  for  it 
is  mandatory  that  each  applicant  on  his  original  appoint- 
ment, though  not  on  reappointment,  appear  before  the 
commissioners  and  be  examined.  Opportunity  is  given 
to  the  citizens  living  in  the  same  district  to  protest  the 
qualifications  of  the  applicant.  Even  if  the  nominees  of 
the  parties  are  rejected,  the  parties  are  directed  to  sug- 
gest others,  so  that  there  can  be  but  few  cases  where  the 
registrars  are  not  the  direct  representatives  of  the  par- 
ties to  which  they  belong.  In  order  to  prevent  the 
situation  arising  where  the  commissioners  would  re- 
ject every  suggestion  made  by  a  party,  the  law  pro- 
vides that  if  two  commissioners  have  concurred  in  ap- 
proving four  persons  successively  to  fill  one  position,  and 
the  other  two  commissioners  have  concurred  in  object- 
ing to  such  persons,  the  commissioners  first  referred  to 


REGISTRATION.  213 

may  approve  four  other  names,  and  from  these  eight, 
all  having  been  suggested  by  petition,  the  other  two  com- 
missioners must  select  the  registrars.  To  this  extent 
the  veto  of  the  minority  is  modified,  but  in  all  other  cases 
the  board  must  act  by  a  majority  of  its  members. 

The  registrars  receive  ten  dollars  a  day,  and  as  the 
day  consists  of  a  session  from  7  to  10  A.  M.  and  another 
from  4  to  10  P.  M,,  the  heart  of  the  day  remains  to  them 
to  attend  to  their  private  business.  Thus,  the  ten  dol- 
lars is  rather  attractive  and  capable  men  can  be  secured. 
As  the  registrars  are  appointed  on  political  recommen- 
dation and  as  their  duties  acquaint  them  with  all  the 
voters  in  their  district,  and  as  they  are  well  enough  paid 
to  make  them  desire  the  office,  they  are  about  the  best 
material  for  building  a  party  organization  that  exists. 

To  ascertain  what  parties  are  entitled  to  registrars 
in  any  election  district,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  the 
vote  cast  in  that  district  at  the  last  general  election,  that 
is  to  say  at  the  last  election  at  which  State  or  national 
officers  were  voted  for.  As  the  last  election  may  have 
been  a  municipal  election,  it  may  be  necessary  to  go  back 
nearly  two  years.  The  appointment  of  two  of  the  regis- 
trars is  the  property  of  the  party  polling  the  highest  vote 
within  the  district,  and  at  least  one  of  the  registrars  must 
be  a  member  of  the  party  polling  the  next  highest  vote. 
In  practice  where  there  are  two  great  parties,  two  of  the 
registrars  will  belong  to  each.  When  there  are  three  im- 
portant parties,  two  registrars  belong  to  the  majority 
party  in  the  division,  one  to  the  next  strongest  and  one 
to  the  third  strongest.  A  fact  never  to  be  forgotten  by 
the  voter  is  that  he  must  register  every  year.  Like  vac- 
cination registration  has  a  limited  efficacy.  In  order  to 
vote  at  an  election  in  the  fall  it  is  necessary  to  have 
registered  that  very  fall.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  have 
registered  the  previous  spring,  for  the  lists  expire  every 
summer,  and  the  voter  must  renew  his  standing  every 


214  STATE   GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

fall  in  order  to  be  able  to  vote.  Notwithstanding  the 
number  of  years  which  have  elapsed  since  the  inaugn- 
ration  of  the  registration  system,  there  is  still  consider- 
able uncertainty  on  this  point  in  the  minds  of  many 
citizens.  This  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  under  the 
prior  system  a  voter  w^ho  was  once  upon  the  assessor's 
list  was  generally  carried  there  indefinitely,  so  that  after 
having  once  seen  that  he  was  assessed  the  voter  had 
nothing  further  to  do  with  preparing  himself  to  vote. 
The  practical  citizen  will  find  it  a  considerable  part  of 
his  duties  to  eradicate  this  error  from  the  minds  of  the 
citizenship  at  large  and  drag  them  out  to  register  when 
they  think  they  are  already  qualified.  The  intent  of 
the  registration  act  is  to  make  it  as  easy  as  possible  for 
everybody  to  register.  To  this  end  each  fall  three  days 
are  provided  on  which  the  registrars  sit.  Each  is  fixed 
on  a  different  day  of  the  week.  In  case  any  citizen  has 
been  ill  or  absent  upon  all  of  the  three  days,^  he  may 
present  himself  before  the  registration  commissioner, 
who  will  enter  his  name  on  the  list.  The  hours  of  regis- 
tration are  made  to  stretch  over  a  great  part  of  the  day 
so  as  to  accommodate  everybody  no  matter  what  the 
hours  of  their  occupation  may  be.  It  has  been  found  by 
experience  that  almost  no  election  business  of  any  kind 
is  ever  carried  on  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  Consequently 
the  hours  have  been  fixed  from  7  to  10  A.  M.  and  from 
4  to  10  P.  M.,  thus  the  registrars  are  not  compelled  to  be 
on  duty  for  more  than  nine  hours,  yet  the  registration 
books  are  open  early  in  the  morning  and  late  at  night.  As 
the  particular  days  of  the  week  were  sought  to  be  fixed 
rather  than  the  days  of  the  month,  the  calendar  dates 
of  the  registration  days  are  not  given  in  the  act.  The 
days  are  as  follows :  ^    In  even  numbered  years  (that  is, 

(8)  And  in  a  few  other  cases,  cf.  Act  June  18,  1915,  P.  L.  1027. 

(9)  Act  May  28,  1915,  P.  L.  576. 


REGISTRATIOX.  215 

year  of  general  election)  ninth  Thursday,  seventh  Tues- 
day and  fifth  Saturday  before  election  day.  These  three 
days  together  are  kno^^^l  as  the  fall  registration,  and  on 
the  fifth  AVednesday  preceding  the  spring  primary  there 
is  another  registration  day  known  as  the  spring  regis- 
tration. In  odd  numbered  years  (years  of  municipal 
election)  ninth  Thursday,  eighth  Tuesday  and  eighth 
Saturday  before  election  day.  It  will  be  noted  that  the 
registration  days  occur  at  a  different  period  in  odd  num- 
bered and  in  even  numbered  years,  the  days  being  earlier 
in  even  numbered  years  and  an  extra  registration  day  oc- 
curring in  the  spring.  In  odd  numbered  years  there  is 
no  spring  registration  day.  The  reason  for  the  extra 
registration  day  in  the  spring  in  even  numbered  years 
is  the  fact  that  in  those  years  a  primary  is  held  in  the 
spring,  and  this  registration  day  is  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  an  opportunity  to  register  to  voters  who  failed  to 
do  so  in  tlio  previous  fall,  or  for  voters  wlio  change  their 
party  allegiance  to  have  that  fact  recorded.  The  differ- 
ence in  other  respects  between  the  odd  and  even  num- 
bered years  for  registration  days  is  caused  by  the  ne- 
cessity of  avoiding  conflict  with  the  fall  primaiy. 

The  registrars  sit  in  the  same  room  in  which  the  elec- 
tions are  held.  The  citizen  intending  to  register  on  en- 
tering the  room  faces  quite  a  little  group.  Seated  at 
tables  are  the  four  registrars  with  their  two  wide  books 
called  registers.  The  books  are  praotiaally  identical 
and  will  afterwards  appear  at  the  election  to  make  their 
contents  available  when  needed.  Standing  about  the 
room  are  the  watchers.  These  are  duly  accredited  rep- 
resentatives of  the  political  parties  and  have  a  right  to 
be  present  in  order  to  see  that  everything  is  done  in  a 
legal  manner.  The  citizen  registering  is  first  sworn  to 
tell  the  truth  in  answering  the  questions  to  be  put  to  him, 
and  then  the  catechising  begins.  When  the  system  was 
new  some  hastv  citizens  were  inclined  to  charge  the  reg- 


216  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA, 

istrars  with  impertinence,  and  heated  scenes  were  not 
uncommon.  When  asked  whether  he  is  lodger,  lessee  or 
owner,  many  a  man  has  ''owner"  at  the  tip  of  his  tongue 
when  he  remembers  that  the  house  is  in  his  wife's  name. 
He  cannot  say  lessee,  for  that  is  not  the  case,  and  finally 
he  is  driven  to  the  public  and  official  acknowledgment 
that  he  is  merely  a  lodger  in  his  wife's  house.  As  long 
as  voting  is  confined  to  men  the  questions  concerning  per- 
sonal description  do  not  cause  much  difficulty.  Among 
them  are  a  question  as  to  color,  one  as  to  weight  and  one 
as  to  age.  What  will  happen  when  women  are  compelled 
to  w^rite  themselves  down  as  fair,  fat  and  forty,  must 
be  left  to  conjecture.  No  blame,  however,  can  attach  to 
the  registrars,  as  they  ask  only  the  questions  necessary 
to  elicit  the  information  required  by  the  statute. 

The  most  important  thing  that  the  registrars  want 
to  know  about  any  person  who  applies  to  be  registered, 
is  whether  he  is  a  qualified  elector,  and  it  is  now  neces- 
sary for  us  to  consider  the  various  qualifications  as  set 
out  in  the  Constitution.^*^  In  the  first  place  the  applicant 
must  be  a  male  citizen  of  Pennsylvania  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  Strangely  enough  there  is  nothing  in  the 
Constitution  to  tell  us  what  a  citizen  of  Pennsylvania  is. 
Practically  every  club,  association  or  corporation  has 
something  in  its  charter  or  by-laws  to  designate  who  may 
be  members,  but  the  Constitution  of  the  Sovereign  State 
of  Pennsylvania  is  silent  on  the  subject.  Probably  the 
reason  is  that  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  United 
States  Constitution  covers  the  ground  so  completely  that 
there  is  no  practical  reason  for  a  State  Constitution  to 

(10)    Const.,  Art.  VIII,  Sec.  1. 

In  a  book  describing'  Pennsylvania  as  it  is,  Woman  Suffrage 
must  still  remain  in  a  foot  note.  But  not  for  long.  The  enormous 
vote  given  in  the  election  of  1915  for  the  suffage  amendment  to  the 
constitution  indicates  that  the  progress  of  a  few  years  will  suffice 
to  wipe  out  the  illogical  discrimination  against  women  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  franchise. 


REGISTRATION.  217 

treat  of  the  question  at  all.  The  opening  words  of  that 
great  amendment,  the  American  Magna  Charta  of  op- 
pressed people,  are  these  :  ''All  persons  born  or  natural- 
ized in  the  United  States  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction 
thereof  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State 
wherein  they  reside."  Since  no  State  has  any  practical 
interest  in  admitting  to  citizenship  people  who  have 
neither  been  born  nor  naturalized  in  the  United  States, 
and  since  all  who  are  so  born  or  naturalized  are 
citizens  whether  the  State  wants  them  or  not,  there  is 
really  nothing  more  for  a  State  to  say  on  the  subject. 
For  the  purposes  of  the  politician  at  the  polls,  "citizen 
of  the  United  States  residing  in  Pennsylvania"  and 
"citizen  of  Pennsylvania"  are  synonymous. 

The  age  limit  is  the  usual  one  of  full  legal  age,  twenty- 
one  years.  It  is  only  necessary  to  point  out  in  this  con- 
nection that  since  the  purpose  of  registration  is  to  find 
out  who  will  be  qualified  on  election  day,  if  a  voter  is  not 
yet  twenty-one  on  registration  dsLj  but  will  have  reached 
that  age  on  or  before  election  day,  he  is  entitled  to  be 
registered. 

In  addition  to  being  a  male  citizen  of  the  State 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  the  elector  must  have  four  ad- 
ditional qualifications.  He  must  have  been  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States  at  least  one  month,  he  must  have  re- 
sided in  the  State  one  year  (unless  he  was  previously  a 
qualified  elector  or  native  born  citizen  of  the  State,  in 
which  case  a  residence  of  six  months  is  sufficient),  he 
must  have  resided  in  the  election  district  wliere  he  of- 
fers to  vote  at  least  two  months  immediately  preceding 
the  election,  and  if  twenty-two  years  of  age  he  must  have 
paid  a  State  or  county  tax,  which  must  have  been  as- 
sessed at  least  two  months  and  paid  at  least  one  month 
before  the  election. 

The  naturalized  citizen  is  required  to  produce  his 
naturalization  papers,  the  decree  of  the  court  admitting 


218  STATE   GOVERXMEXT  IX    PEXXSYLVAXIA. 

liim  to  citizenship.  In  order  to  prevent  unnecessary 
trouble  lie  is  not  compelled  to  do  this  every  time  he 
registers  in  the  same  division.  The  class  of  persons  to 
whom  such  a  requirement  causes  the  most  trouble  is 
composed  of  those  who  were  under  age  at  the  time 
their  fathers  were  naturalized.  The  citizenship  of  the 
father  carries  with  it  the  citizenship  of  the  minor  chil- 
dren, but  provides  them  with  no  papers.  This  class  is 
required  to  exhibit  the  naturalization  papers  of  their 
fathers  when  they  can  obtain  them,  but  if  they  are  un- 
able to  do  so,  their  affidavit  to  that  effect  is  accepted  in- 
stead. 

The  requirement  that  the  voter  must  have  lived  a 
year  in  the  State  is  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  coloni- 
zation of  voters  before  election.  If  any  citizen  of  the 
United  States  that  happened  to  be  in  the  State  at  the 
time  could  vote,  some  enterprising  politicians  might  in- 
vite over  a  large  part  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey.  Tlie 
qualification  of  the  requirement  in  favor  of  those  who 
have  formerly  been  voters  of  the  State,  reducing  their 
time  on  the  waiting  list  to  six  months,  is  sometimes  over-, 
looked,  because  the  requirement  of  a  year's  residence  is 
so  firmly  fixed  in  the  mind.  Anyone  who  has  once  lived 
in  Pennsylvania  naturally  hopes  to  get  back  again,  and 
to  encourage  these  the  State  holds  out  the  prospect  of  no 
long  wait  before  they  can  resume  the  full  privileges  of 
citizenship.  The  qualification  for  voting  which  is  apt 
to  cause  most  annoyance  is  the  requirement  that  the 
voter  must  have  resided  in  the  election  district  for  two 
months  prior  to  election.  This  provision  was  undoubt- 
edly inserted  in  the  Constitution  as  a  means  of  raising 
some  probability  that  the  voter  would  be  known  in  the 
district  and  so  could  be  identified.  The  system  of  per- 
sonal registration  has  greatly  reduced  the  necessity  for 
this  provision,  but  has  not  reduced  its  ability  for  giving 
trouble.     The  chief  sufferers  are  the  earlv  fall  movers. 


REGISTRATIO  X .  219 

Tliey  may  only  move  across  the  street,  but  if  that  street 
is  the  dividing  line  of  an  election  district,  they  are  dis- 
franchised for  the  time  being.^^ 

Just  exactly  what  constitutes  residence  in  an  elec- 
tion district  is  somewliat  doubtful.  The  ordinary  hard- 
working plain-living  citizen  has  no  difficulty  in  telling 
where  he  lives,  but  the  magnate  who  has  ''four  houses 
but  no  home,"  who  considers  liis  vote  more  needed  in  one 
county  but  the  assessors  more  lenient  in  another,  is 
sometimes  at  a  loss  to  decide.  Another  class  that  gives 
rise  to  this  question  is  that  of  the  politicians  who  can 
control  votes  in  one  place  but  who  do  not  care  to  raise 
their  children  there.  The  question  is  more  acutely  raised 
in  their  case  because  their  political  opponents  who  do  not 
want  them  to  control  the  votes  are  apt  to  try  to  prove 
that  they  are  not  residents.  AVlien  the  matter  is  pressed 
so  far  as  to  get  to  a  jury  it  generally  happens  that  the 
jury  will  decide  that  the  man  lives  where  he  says  he 
does,  that  is,  unless  he  has  tried  to  maintain  two  voting 
residences.  Of  course,  some  kind  of  a  domicile  must  be 
established  to  give  color  to  the  claim  of  residence.  A 
rented  room,  or  even  a  razor  has  sufficed. 

The  final  qualification  is  that  the  voter,  if  twenty-two 
years  of  age  and  upwards,  must  have  paid  a  State  or 
county  tax,  which  shall  have  been  assessed  at  least  two 
months  and  paid  at  least  one  month  before  election.  Be- 
tween twenty-one  and  twenty-two  years  of  age  the  voter 
is  not  required  to  have  paid  any  tax,  and  during  that 
time  is  spoken  of  as  ''voting  on  age."  This  requirement  of 
tax  paying  is  the  last  vestige  of  the  old  property  qualifica- 
tion idea  still  in  great  vigor  in  Prussia  and  to  a  less  extent 
in  England.  Whatever  value  the  ])ossession  of  property 
may  have  in  improving  the  quality  of  citizenship,  this 

(11)  It  is  well  to  note  in  passing  that  the  time  of  residence  in 
the  district  is  two  months,  not  sixty  days  as  is  often  stated.  The 
difference  is  not  much,  but  might  be  decisive. 


220  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

provision  of  the  Constitution  utterly  fails  to  secure  it. 
If  taxes  were  assessed  only  on  real  estate  or  on  stocks 
and  bonds  and  tangible  property,  a  tax  receipt  would  be 
evidence  of  the  ownership  of  a  certain  amount  of  prop- 
erty, but  this  is  not  the  case  when  the  voter  is  qualified 
by  a  poll  tax  receipt.^-  This  poll  tax  is  fifty  cents  a  head, 
and  as  it  is  necessary  only  to  pay  it  every  two  years,  the 
minimum  tax  paying  necessary  to  qualify  a  voter  is 
twenty-five  cents  a  year.  Even  this  nominal  sum  might 
discourage  from  the  polls  the  absolutely  shiftless,  were 
it  not  for  the  fact  that  unscrupulous  politicians  have  fre- 
quently purchased  receipts  in  large  numbers  and  so 
qualified  thousands  of  the  least  valuable  class  of  citi- 
zens. On  the  other  hand,  many  worthy  citizens  who  are 
not  real  estate  owners  but,  though  they  pay  large 
amounts  of  taxes  indirectly,  neglect  to  procure  poll  tax 
receipts,  are  debarred  from  voting.  Thus  the  practical 
operation  of  this  provision  is  to  debase  rather  than  ele- 
vate the  electorate.  It  is  a  sham.  While  pretending  to 
restrict  the  electorate  to  tax  payers,  in  effect  it  throws 
it  open  to  all  citizens,  but  gives  an  advantage  to  those 
who  are  depraved  enough  to  accept  a  bribe  in  the  way  of 
a  free  tax  receipt.  Shams  are  seldom  harmless.  How 
much  better  it  would  be  if  our  Constitution  were  to  de- 
clare that  the  citizen  voted  because  he  was  a  man,  not 
because  he  had  property.  Some  day  we  may  attain  to 
this.^'' 

(12)  Here  poll  is  used  in  the  old  sense  of  head,  and  has  no  re- 
ference to  the  voting  place,  although  the  use  of  the  poll  tax  to  qualify 
for  voting  makes  it  easy  to  confuse  the  two  meanings. 

(13)  Even  in  eighteenth  century  England,  vphen  voting  was 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  property  holding  class,  the  law  in  this 
respect  was  evaded.  King  George  III,  who  marks  the  transition  from 
King  to  Boss,  was  an  expert,  as  is  well  illustrated  by  a  portion  of  a 
letter  from  him  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  May,  1780,  cited 
in  Trevelyan's  work  "George  the  Third  and  Charles  Fox,  vol.  I,  p.  217. 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  New  York,  1912,  as  follows: — 

"Lord   North   acquainted   me  with  his  wish   of  supporting  Mr. 


REGISTRATION.  221 

The  personal  registration  system  stops  short  of  re- 
quiring Bertillon  measurements  or  thumb-prints  or 
photographs,  but  barring  these,  pretty  nearly  everything 
else  is  required.  The  first  space  in  the  register  records 
the  surname,  and  the  second  the  Christian  name."  It  is 
not  stated  how  a  heathen  would  meet  this  requirement. 
Then  the  voter  is  asked  his  occupation  and  residence. 
After  giving  the  street  and  number,  he  is  asked  whether 
he  is  a  lodger,  lessee  or  owner.  When  the  man  who  has 
his  house  in  his  wife 's  name  has  finally  come  to  the  reali- 
zation that  he  is  only  a  lodger,  it  adds  to  his  warmth  to 
be  compelled  to  state  what  room  or  floor  he  occupies. 
But  the  question  is  number  six  and  must  be  answered. 
Questions  bearing  on  personal  description  are  not  omit- 
ted. The  voter's  color,  approximate  age  and  approxi- 
mate weight  are  all  duly  recorded,  and  wliether  he  is 
tall,  short  or  medium.  To  complete  the  identification, 
the  voter  signs  his  name.^^  If  there  is  any  doubt  of  his 
identification  on  election  day,  the  voter  is  scrutinized  and 
compelled  to  sign  his  name  again  for  purposes  of  com- 
parison.   The  ordinary  repeater  is  not  a  skillful  forger. 

If  any  doubting  Thomas  at  the  registration  feels  that 
the  voter  is  not  sufficiently  described,  or  if  he  wants  to 
have  a  little  fun  at  his  expense,  he  can  challenge  him, 
and  the  voter  then  is  put  through  the  ordeal  of  the  chal- 
lenge affidavit.  The  information  required  in  this  affi- 
davit is  even  more  intimate  than  the  matters  previously 
inquired  into,  and  in  addition  the  registrar  must  take  a 

Pouney  for  the  borough  of  New  Windsor.  I  shall  get  my  tradesmen 
encouraged  to  appear  for  him.  I  shall  order,  in  consequence  of  Mr. 
Robinson's  hint,  the  houses  I  rent  in  Windsor  to  stand  in  the  parish 
rate  in  different  names  of  my  sen'ants,  so  that  will  create  six  votes." 

(14)  An  initial  is  not  sufficient.    Solo's  registration  20  Dist.  553. 

(15)  If  the  citizen  registering  alleges  inability  to  write,  a  record 
of  this  fact  shall  be  made  in  the  same  column,  and  unless  due  to  some 
apparent  physical  deformity,  he  shall  be  required  to  make  affidavit 
of  his  inability  to  write.     Personal  Registration  Act.  Sec.  7. 


222  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

good  look  at  him  and  jot  down  the  following  information, 
as  well  as  he  is  able,  ''distinguishing  marks,"  "other 
peculiarities,"  "color  of  hair."  After  a  registrar  has 
duly  marked  down  the  distinguishing  marks,  he  Avould 
need  strong  powers  of  observation  to  find  any  other 
peculiarities.  What  he  would  do  if  color  blind  about  the 
question  of  the  color  of  the  hair,  or  how^  far  he  is  respon- 
sible for  an  accurate  noting  of  shade,  has  not  been  de- 
cided. 

As  there  are  four  registrars,  and  only  two  books  or 
registers  to  be  kept,  the  other  registrars  need  something 
to  do.  They  are  required  to  work  up  the  registers  into 
street  lists.  These  lists  have  the  names  arranged  in 
the  order  in  which  the  dwellings  of  the  voters  appear 
upon  the  streets  of  the  district.  One  of  these  lists  is 
hung  upon  the  door  of  the  polling  place  for  the  infor- 
mation of  the  general  public,  and  the  other  is  returned 
to  the  County  Commissioners,  whose  duty  it  is  to  have 
printed  one  hundred  copies  for  each  district  for  public 
distribution.  These  lists  are  of  inestimable  value  to  the 
practical  politician.  They  form  the  basis  of  his  door 
bell  pulling  campaign,  and  enable  him  to  know  who  lives 
in  every  house  in  his  bailiwick  containing  a  registered 
voter.  It  gives  hun  an  absolute  list  of  the  qualified  vot- 
ers of  the  district  and  he  is  saved  the  time  hitherto  lost 
in  dragging  men  to  the  polls  only  to  find  that,  for  some 
reason  or  other  they  have  no  right  to  vote.  Anyone  who 
does  not  possess  such  a  list  could  hardly  be  called  a  prac- 
tical politician. 

Thus  the  list  of  voters  is  made  up  and  we  w^ill  proceed 
to  a  description  of  the  occasion  upon  w^hich  it  is  used. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


THE    PRIMAKV    ELECTION, 


IN  a  former  chapter,  we  have  emphasized  the  fact 
that  a  party  is  a  voluntary  organization  of  citizens, 
and  have  also  pointed  out  that  the  very  nature  of 
the  party  principle  produces  certain  evils,  the  greatest 
of  which  is  the  fact  that  a  party  organization  frequently 
serves  as  a  tool  for  the  effecting  of  ends  differing  from 
those  for  which  it  was  created  by  the  voters.  Among  the 
methods  by  which  it  is  hoped  that  this  evil  can  be  re- 
moved is  the  legal  control  of  the  party  notwithstanding' 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  voluntary  association.  The  legisla- 
tion resulting  from  this  effort  makes  such  important 
changes  in  our  electoral  system  and  creates  so  many 
election  details,  to  know  which  is  essential  to  the  practi- 
cal citizen,  that  we  must  devote  a  chapter  to  a  descrip- 
tion of  it.  The  legislation  referred  to  is  known  as  the 
uniform  primary  act.  The  word  '* uniform"  in  its  title 
indicates  the  trend  of  conception  which  it  introduced 
into  the  law.  Primary  elections  have  been  known  as  long- 
as  parties,  but  they  were  regulated  entirely  by  party 
rule,  and  consequently,  every  party  had  its  own  time  and 
place  for  holding  the  primary  elections  and  their  own 
methods  of  conducting  them.  Indeed,  it  was  frequently 
the  preference  of  the  various  petty  leaders  of  the  party 
to  have  the  primaries  held  at  a  time  and  place  unknown 
to  the  better  element  of  the  party,  so  that  none  but  tried 
and  true  henchmen  would  have  an  opportunity  to  vote. 
The  various  primary  elections  were  anything  but  uni- 
form. The  purpose  underlying  the  uniform  primary  act 
was  to  control  the  party  machinery  in  such  a  way  that 
every  voter  would  have  a  full  opj^ortunity  to  take  an 

223 


224  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

untrammeled  part  in  the  management  of  the  party  of  his 
choice.  The  law  has  done  as  much  in  this  direction  as 
law  can  do.  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  a  voluntary  asso- 
ciation totally  unregulated  by  law  from  springing  up  for 
the  purpose  of  controlling  the  actions  of  the  party  which 
is  law  controlled 

This  is  exactly  what  takes  place  and  under  the  vari- 
ous names  of  ''the  organization,"  "bosses,"  "round-table 
conferences,"^  all  sorts  of  unregulated  internal  party 
management  goes  on.  The  redeeming  feature  of  the  pri- 
mary system,  however,  is  that  an  opportunity  is  given 
to  the  citizenship  at  large  at  the  primary  to  review  and 
control  the  actions  of  the  unregulated  leaderships.  An- 
other way  of  escaping  regulation  would  be  to  organize 
a  party  with  officers  whose  names  and  functions  are  un- 
known to  the  law.  It  would  be  diverting  and  refreshing  if 
a  party,  discarding  pretence  for  actuality,  were  to  provide 
in  its  rules  that,  instead  of  a  State  Committee,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  are  required  by  law  to  be  elected  at  the  pri- 
mary, the  directing  entity  should  be  a  "big  boss";  that 
there  should  be  two  "municipal  contractors,"  and,  sub- 
ordinate to  these  "ward  heelers"  and  "henchmen." 
Such  a  party  would  need  to  have  the  assistance 
of  a  recognized  party  to  get  its  candidate,  on  the  ballot, 
but  with  that  technical  exception  it  would  be  a  full 
fledged  party  unhampered  by  legal  restrictions. 

The  first  uniform  primary  act,^  like  the  personal 
registration  act,  Avas  passed  at  the  penitential  session 
of  1906.  This  act  covered  all  offices,  including  party 
offices,  except  those  voted  for  by  the  people  of  the  State  as 
a  whole.  The  session  of  1913,  which  was  strongly  under 
the  influence  of  progressive  ideas,  enlarged  the  primary 
system  to  include  absolutely  all  officers  which  the  peo- 
ple were  called  upon  to  elect.    The  act  of  1913  known  as 


(1)   Act  February  17,  1906.  P.  L.  36. 


THE   PRIMARY   ELECTION.  225 

the  State-wide  Primary  Act  -  is  the  legislation  on  this 
subject  now  in  force.  In  addition  to  extending  the  sys- 
tem to  all  the  offices  in  the  State,  this  act  also  provided 
a  means  whereby  the  voter  could  express  his  preference 
as  to  candidates  for  the  office  of  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  when  having  this  aspect  of  the  act  in  mind, 
it  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  providing  a  "preferential 
primary."  The  application  of  the  i:)rimary  system  to 
the  presidency  marks  a  very  distinct  forward  movement 
between  the  years  1906  and  1913.  Within  that  time  the 
Seventeenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  had  been  passed,  which  provided  that  Sena- 
tors should  be  elected  by  the  people.  An  act  dealing  with 
the  subject  only  of  the  election  of  Senators  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, was  adopted  "  and  also  provisions  for  the  nomi- 
nation for  United  States  Senatorial  candidates  were  in- 
cluded in  the  State-wide  primary  act  just  mentioned. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  uniform  primary  act  all 
the  candidates  of  a  party  which  is  in  existence  when  the 
primary  election  is  held  must  be  elected  at  the  primary. 
The  act  is  careful,  however,  to  provide  that  the  process 
of  forming  new  parties  and  the  making  of  nominations 
for  such  new  parties  by  petition  shall  not  be  disturbed. 
If  this  provision  had  not  been  made,  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  organize  any  new  parties,  since  to  be 
recognized  at  a  primary  a  party  must  have  polled  a 
certain  percentage  of  the  votes,  and  a  party  not 
yet  in  being  naturally  could  not  qualify  under  this  re- 
quirement. An  exception  to  the  requirement  that  all 
candidates  shall  be  nominated  at  a  primary  is  the  case 
of  candidates  for  presidential  elector.  They  are  not 
nominated  at  the  primary,  but  are  appointed  by  the 
party's  candidate  for  president.     vShades  of  our  Consti- 

(2)  Act  Julv  12.  li)13,  P.  L.  719.     Amended.  Act  May  18,  1917, 
P.  L.  Act  July  6,  1917,  P.  L. 

(3)  Act  July  24.  1913,  P.  L.  995. 
15 


226  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

tution  builders !  What  if  they  had  known  that  the  tables 
would  be  so  turned  that  the  presidential  electors,  that 
college  of  substantial  citizens  who  are  picked  for  the 
signal  honor  of  naming  the  nation's  chief,  should  ac- 
tually be  chosen  by  the  man  whom  they  were  afterwards 
to  elect.^ 

Under  the  old  system  of  unregulated  primaries  only 
an  insignificant  section  of  the  party  voters  ever  partici- 
pated at  all.  Primary  fights  were  sometimes  conducted 
by  opposing  factions  of  practical  politicians,  but  the 
citizenship  at  large  despaired  of  ever  effecting  anything 
b}^  means  of  the  primary.  The  bad  tradition  so  engend- 
ered has  persisted  to  the  present  time,  and  it  is  extreme- 
ly difficult  to  secure  a  really  adequate  vote  at  the  pri- 
mary. Many  citizens  still  act  as  if  they  thought  the  pri- 
mary elections  non-important.  The  practical  politician 
knows  them  to  be  all  important.  He  is  glad  to  say,  ''Let 
me  nominate  the  candidates,  and  I  care  not  who  elects 
them."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  real  act  of  discrimina- 
tion is  performed  at  the  primaries.  There  the  voter  is 
not  faced  by  questions  of  party  regularity  or  party  suc- 
cess. He  has  before  him  merely  the  names  of  the  candi- 
dates. At  the  election  he  will  be  pressed  by  larger  con- 
siderations than  the  fitness  of  the  particular  candidates. 
Hence  he  swallows  much  that  is  nauseous  on  a  party 
ticket.  But  at  the  primary  he  need  only  consider  in- 
dividual fitness.  The  horse  is  not  yet  stolen  and  the 
stable  door  can  still  be  locked.  Alas !  So  many  voters 
wait  till  it  is  too  late  and  at  election  must  make  choice 
merely  between  two  evils. 

Preceding  each  regular  election  is  a  primary  election 
for  the  selection  of  the  candidates  to  be  balloted  for.  In 
arranging  the  time  for  the  primaries,  many  things  have 
to  be  taken  into  consideration.  The  primaries  ought  not 
to  be  so  near  the  election  that  there  is  insufficient  time 

(4)   Act  July  12,  1913,  P.  L.  719,  See.  18. 


THE  PRIMAKY  ELECTION.  227 

in  which  to  have  the  votes  counted  by  the  return  officers, 
to  certify  the  results  and  to  have  the  ballots  printed,  to 
say  nothing  of  adequate  time  in  which  to  conduct  a  rea- 
sonable campaign.  On  the  other  hand,  they  should  not 
be  so  far  distant  from  the  election  as  to  make  the  cam- 
paign too  protracted,  with  the  attendant  danger  of 
changed  circumstances  making  nominations  fail  to  rep- 
resent the  real  desires  of  the  parties  at  the  time  of  the 
election.  Then  the  primary'  date  must  be  harmonized 
with  the  registration  days,  also  they  must  have  refer- 
ence to  happenings  without  the  State  also.  The  chief 
of  these  is  the  national  convention.  When  the  law  under- 
takes to  give  the  voter  a  chance  to  express  preference  for 
a  presidential  candidate,  it  is  obvious  that  it  would  not 
do  to  have  this  preference  expressed  after  the  meeting 
of  the  national  convention  that  made  the  nomination. 
It  is  this  consideration  which  dictated  the  placing  of 
the  primaries  in  even  numbered  years  (the  years  of  na- 
tional and  State-wide  elections)  so  early  as  the  third 
Tuesday  of  May.  In  even  numbered  years  when  there 
is  no  presidential  election,  it  is  still  well  to  have  the 
whole  summer  in  which  to  conduct  a  State-wide  cam- 
paign. In  the  odd  numbered  years  (years  of  the  local 
election)  the  primary  is  held  on  the  third  Wednesday  of 
September.  This  leaves  only  a  month  and  a  fraction  for 
the  campaign.  The  primary  could  not  well  be  held 
earlier  without  coming  in  the  heat  of  tlie  summer,  wlien 
so  many  people  are  on  vacations.  Even  as  it  is,  some 
of  the  registration  days  are  tlirown  too  far  back  into  the 
summer. 

Tlie  primary  in  May  is  officially  known  as  the  spring 
primary,  and  that  in  September  as  the  fall  primary.  At 
the  spring  primary  are  nominated  not  only  the  candi- 
dates to  be  elected  at  the  general  election,  but  also  the 
State  committeemen  of  the  several  parties,  and,  in  ap- 
propriate years,  delegates  and  alternates  to  tlio  national 


228  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

convention.  Also,  in  cases  where  the  party  rules  re- 
quire, national  committeemen  are  elected  at  the  primary. 
While  it  would  be  legally  possible  for  a  national  conven- 
tion to  refuse  admittance  to  delegates  elected  at  a  pri- 
mary election  and  seat  others  elected  in  some  other  way, 
the  experience  of  the  Republican  Convention  of  1912  in 
doing  this,  was  not  such  as  to  encourage  its  repetition. 

The  purpose  of  the  primary  being  to  assure  to  the 
voter  a  fair  chance  to  have  his  voice  heard  in  the  coun- 
sels of  the  party,  the  primary  elections  are  governed  by 
the  same  laws  which  apply  to  the  regular  elections.  The 
same  election  officers  serve,  the  same  polling  places  are 
used,  and  the  same  election  paraphernalia  is  on  hand. 
Since  the  contest  at  the  primary  is  between  the  candi- 
dates and  not  between  parties,  the  watchers  are  commis- 
sioned not  for  their  party,  but  for  whatever  candidate 
they  are  especially  representing.  It  is  perhaps  fortu- 
nate that  each  candidate  does  not  usually  appoint  watch- 
ers, else  when  there  were  many  candidates,  the  watchers 
would  quite  crowd  out  the  voters.  With  these  safe- 
guards, the  primary  election  is  as  accurate  a  reflection 
of  the  will  of  the  party  voters  as  can  now  be  devised. 

The  most  noticeable  difference  between  a  primary 
and  an  election  is  the  fact  that  instead  of  one  ballot 
carrying  all  candidates,  as  appears  at  a  regular  election, 
there  is  a  separate  ballot  for  each  party.  While  not  so 
intended,  this  party  ballot  is  in  reality  the  beginning  of 
the  education  of  the  citizen  in  the  use  of  the  pure  Aus- 
tralian ballot,  upon  which  there  is  no  party  distinction.^ 
Since  all  the  voters  on  any  one  ballot  belong  to  that 
party,  straight  party  voting  has  no  place,  and  the  voter 
must  examine  each  name  and  mark  his  ballot  according 
to  his  judgment  of  the   several  candidates.®     Another 


(5)  See  sample  primary  ballot  on  another  page. 

(6)  By  an  amendment  of  the  primary  act  a  candidate  may  have 
his  occupation  added  after  his  name,  if  likely  to  be  confused  with  a 


THE   PRIMARY   ELECTION.  229 

way  in  which  the  primary  election  differs  from  the  regu- 
lar election,  and  in  so  differing  improves  upon  it,  is 
in  the  matter  of  assistance  to  voters.  The  Constitution 
guarantees  secrecy  in  voting,'^  and  does  so  for  the  pur- 
pose of  having  the  ballot  express  as  far  as  may  be  the 
individual  voter's  choice,  uninfluenced  by  extraneous 
considerations.  This  secrecy,  naturally,  is  distasteful 
to  those  who  desire  to  influence  the  choice  of  the  voters, 
and  to  see  that  they  stay  influenced  until  the  ballot  is 
actually  cast.  The  briber  and  the  intimidator  both  find 
their  work  nullified  when  the  ballot  is  cast  in  secrecy. 
The  assistance  of  a  voter  is  frequently  a  mere  cloak  for 
the  destniction  of  the  secrecy  of  the  ballot.  In  the  gen- 
eral election  law  the  privilege  of  assistance  is  provided 
for  in  the  following  words : 

''If  any  voter  declare-;  to  the  jiuliie  of  election  that  by  reason 
of  any  disability  he  desires  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  bis 
ballot,  he  shall  be  permitted  by  the  judge  of  election  to  select  a 
qualified  voter  of  the  election  district  to  aid  him  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  his  ballot;  such  preparation  being  made  in  the  voting 
compartment."  ^ 

Under  this  provision  a  voter  has  merely  to  state  to 
the  judge  that  he  suffers  under  a  disability  and  assist- 
ance is  granted.  That  the  voter  really  suffers  from  no 
disability  makes  no  difference,  for  the  voter  has  been 
held  to  be  the  judge  of  his  o^voi  disability.^  This  judicial 
interpretation  has  made  any  protestor  so  helpless  that 
in  practice  every  request  for  assistance  is  granted,  and 
not   infrequently  assistance  is  thrust  on  the  unwilling. 

similar  name.  Act  June  18,  1915,  P.  L.  1025.  The  same  provision  is 
made  for  the  non-partisan  primary  and  election  by  Act  June  18,  1915, 
P.  L.  1046. 

(7)  Art.  Vin,  Sec.  4. 

(8)  Act  June  10,  1893,  Sec.  26,  P.  L.  432. 

(9)  Commonwealth  vs.  Gallagher,  19  Dist.  149.  Beaver  Co. 
Elections,  12  Pa.,  C.  C.  227.  There  is,  however,  good  authority  to  the 
contrary.  Election  instructions  2  D.  R.  1,  Fadden's  Case.  3  Lack.. 
L.  N.  74.  This  matter  is  of  vital  importance  and  ought  to  be  passed 
on  by  the  Supreme  Court. 


230  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

So  the  briber  and  the  intimidator  have  but  to  see  that 
their  victim  gets  assistance  from  a  trusted  source  to 
work  their  will. 

Frequent  attempts  have  been  made  to  eradicate  this 
evil,  but  in  vain.  Only  when  the  Legislature  is  in  such 
a  mood  as  at  the  penitential  session  of  1906  can  such  a 
thing  be  done.  At  that  session  the  general  election  law 
was  not  under  consideration,  and  improvement  could  be 
made  only  in  the  uniform  primary  act.  The  same  im- 
provement was  retained  in  the  State-wide  uniform  pri- 
maiy  act  and  is  now  the  law  expressed  as  follows :  **  Pro- 
vided, that  no  elector  shall  be  permitted  to  receive  any 
assistance  in  marking  his  ballot  unless  he  shall  first  make 
an  affidavit  that  he  cannot  read  the  names  on  the  ballot 
or  that  by  reason  of  physical  disability  he  is  unable  to 
mark  his  ballot."  ^^  By  this  provision  two  classes  alone 
are  permitted  assistance,  the  illiterate  and  the  physically 
incapable.  The  latter  class,  of  course,  by  reason  of  their 
misfortune  ought  to  have  every  consideration,  but  it  is 
hard  to  see  why  anyone  unable  to  read  should  be  given 
special  privileges  in  voting.  In  some  rare  cases  it  might 
be  that  an  illiterate  man's  vote  would  be  valuable,  but 
in  this  time  of  free  schools  and  even  compulsory  educa- 
tion the  great  mass  of  illiterates  must  be  densely  ignor- 
ant and  not  fit  to  exercise  the  franchise.  While  a  direct 
literacy  test  would  be  difficult  to  establish  and  uncertain 
in  its  operation,  there  is  no  reason  why  an  indirect  liter- 
acy test  should  not  be  imbedded  in  the  law  simply  by  re- 
moving the  right  of  assistance  to  those  unable  to  read. 

It  is  not  difficult  for  a  candidate  to  get  his  name  upon 
the  primary  ballot.  He  has  but  to  secure  a  small  num- 
ber of  signatures  of  people  who  are  willing  to  ask  that 
it  should  be  done.  As  the  primary  is  a  party  affair  at 
which  only  enrolled  party  members  can  vote,  it  is,  of 
course,  logical  that  only  party  members  should  sign  peti- 


(10)  Uniform  Primary  Act,  Sec.  2. 


THE  PRIMAKY   ELECTION.  231 

tions  for  placing  names  on  their  party  ballot  at  the  pri- 
mary. Each  voter  exhausts  his  right  to  sign  petitions 
as  soon  as  he  has  signed  one  for  as  many  candidates  as 
there  are  persons  to  be  elected  to  the  office;  for  instance, 
as  but  one  person  is  to  be  elected  to  the  office  of  Gover- 
nor, a  voter  can  sign  but  one  petition  covering  this  office, 
but  if  four  councilmen  are  to  be  elected  from  a  ward,  a 
voter  may  sign  the  petitions  of  four  candidates.  Peti- 
tions are  usually  circulated  by  persons  who  make  this 
work  a  specialty,  and  as  the  need  for  petitions  seems  to 
grow  with  modern  legislation  the  profession  of  '' peti- 
tion pusher"  grows  more  remunerative.  The  petition 
must  be  verified  by  the  affidavit  of  someone  who  knows, 
stating  that  the  petitioner  signed  with  full  knowledge  of 
the  contents  of  the  petition  and  that  the  facts  set  out  in 
the  petition  are  true.  It  might  seem  a  little  strange 
to  require  an  affidavit  that  the  persons  signing  the  peti- 
tion knew  what  was  in  it,  but  experience  demonstrates 
that  a  skillful  canvasser  can  get  people  to  sign  almost 
anything.  There  is  a  story  current  at  the  Legislature 
that  a  member  once  obligingly  signed  a  petition  at  the 
request  of  a  colleague,  and  was  the  butt  of  considerable 
ridicule  when  it  transpired  that  the  petition  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  Governor  and  prayed  for  the  signer's  own 
hanging. 

Another  affidavit  which  must  be  attached  to  the  peti- 
tion is  that  of  the  candidate  signifying  his  willingness  to 
run.  This  is  to  prevent  the  ballot  from  being  cumbered 
with  fake  or  unauthorized  candidacies. 

The  method  by  which  voters  in  Pennsylvania  may 
now  express  their  preference  for  candidates  for  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  is  interesting  as  an  example 
of  how  a  thing  may  be  done  indirectly  when  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  provide  for  it  by  direct  means.  The  President 
of  the  United  States  is  elected  by  a  college  of  presi- 
dential electors,  and  it  is  these  electors    only   who    are 


232  STATE  GOVERNMEXT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

voted  for  by  the  people  of  the  several  States.  By  means 
of  the  party  system  the  candidates  for  whom  the  elec- 
toral college  Avill  cast  their  votes  are  determined  by  na- 
tional party  conventions  and  anyone  who  would  influence 
the  choice  of  a  president  of  the  United  States  must  be- 
gin by  influencing  the  composition  of  the  national  party 
convention.  Up  until  the  enactment  of  the  State-wide 
uniform  primary  act  the  individual  voter  had  no  control 
over  the  action  of  the  national  party  convention  whatso- 
ever except  in  the  election  of  the  delegates.  There  was 
no  way  of  instructing  the  delegates  by  the  party  mem- 
bers and  it  was  frequently  the  practice  for  candidates 
to  run  for  the  position  of  delegate  to  the  national  con- 
vention without  indicating  in  any  way  whatsoever  what 
candidate  he  favored.  This  condition  was  especially 
valuable  to  party  leaders  who  were  thus  enabled  to  con- 
trol many  votes  in  the  convention  without  the  embarrass- 
ment of  direct  instructions  from  the  people.  Under  the 
present  law  in  Pennsylvania  while  candidates  for  the  na- 
tional convention  are  not  compelled  to  put  themselves 
on  record  as  favoring  any  particular  candidate  for  presi- 
dent, they  are  given  the  privilege  of  making  a  formal 
statement  that,  if  elected  and  in  attendance  as  a  dele- 
gate to  the  national  convention,  they  will  with  all  fidelity 
to  the  best  of  their  judgment  and  ability  in  all  matters 
coming  before  the  convention  support  that  candidate  for 
President  of  the  United  States  who  shall  receive  the 
highest  number  of  votes  cast  in  the  district  in  which  he 
is  running.  An  opportunity  is  afforded  on  the  ballot 
for  the  voter  to  indicate  the  person  whom  he  desires  to 
be  the  candidate  for  president,  and  if  the  delegates  are 
elected  who  have  signed  this  declaration  they  are  morally 
bound  to  vote  in  the  national  convention  for  the  man  re- 
ceiving the  highest  number  of  votes  in  their  district.  It 
is  still  too  early  to  know  definitely  how  this  provision  will 
work  in  practice.    In  well  bossed  communities  it  is  prob- 


THE   PRIMARY   ELECTION.  233 

able  that  the  candidate  for  national  convention  will  not 
make  the  statement,  but  will  remain  unpledged  as  be- 
fore, but  in  ordinarily  independent  districts  it  is  not 
likely  that  any  candidate  could  be  elected  who  would  re- 
fuse to  make  the  statement,  and  in  such  districts  all  the 
candidates  would  agree  to  abide  by  the  will  of  their  dis- 
tricts. Should  all  the  other  States,  or  even  a  large  ma- 
jority of  them,  adopt  this  principle,  the  national  conven- 
tion will  come  to  resemble  the  electoral  college  and  will 
cease  to  have  a  deliberative  function  and  will  be  merely  a 
registering  device.  How  such  a  convention  would  escape 
eternal  deadlock,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  Under  the  pure 
convention  system  it  was  quite  normal  for  a  large  num- 
ber of  candidates  to  be  voted  for  on  the  first  ballot,  each 
State  having  its  favorite  son,  but,  on  subsequent  ballots, 
those  who  had  voted  at  first  for  hopeless  candidates 
would  change  to  their  second  choice,  and  changes  would 
continue  until  someone  gets  a  majority.  Under  the  pref- 
erential primary  system  if  voters  instructed  at  the  pri- 
mary may  not  change  (as  presidential  electors  may  not 
change),  perpetual  deadlock  is  certain,  but  if  they  may 
change  after  the  first  ballot,  their  instructions  are  nuga- 
tory and  they  might  as  well  not  have  been  instructed  at 
all.  Probably  the  question  will  be  solved  gradually, 
since  the  States  will  not  adopt  the  preferential  system  all 
at  once,  although  the  tendency  of  the  times  seems  to 
point  inevitably  to  that  or  some  similar  scheme  of  popu- 
lar control  becoming  universal. 

When  the  voter  arrives  at  the  polls  on  the  day  of  a 
primary  election,  he  finds  the  ballots  of  each  party  bound 
in  a  separate  book  and  lying  on  a  table.  The  act  provides, 
"Each  elector  shall  have  the  right  to  receive  the  ballot 
of  the  party  for  which  he  asks;  provided,  that  if  he  is 
challenged,  he  shall  be  required  to  make  oath  or  affirma- 
tion that,  at  the  last  preceding  election,  at  which  he 
voted,  he  voted  for  a  majority  of  the  candidates  of  the 


234  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

party  for  whose  ballot  lie  asks."  ^^  It  is  undeniable  that 
this  clause  is  ambiguous.  It  seems  to  suggest — indeed, 
the  literal  meaning  of  the  words  is,  that  a  voter  may  have 
any  ballot  irrespective  of  his  party  affiliations,  unless 
someone  protests.  This  was  the  interpretation  put  upon 
it  by  many  voters  when  the  same  provision  appeared  in 
the  primary  act  of  1906,  but  the  matter  is  no  longer 
doubtful,  for  the  enrollment  act  ^^  clearly  states  that  no 
person  enrolled  as  a  member  of  one  party  may  have  the 
ballot  of  another  party. 

When  vacancies  happen  after  the  primary  they  are 
filled  by  the  parties  according  to  their  own  rules. 

One  difference  between  the  procedure  in  the  primary 
and  the  election  is  that  the  votes  are  canvassed  and  com- 
puted in  the  case  of  the  primary  by  the  county  commis- 
sioners, and  in  the  case  of  the  election  by  the  judges 
of  the  common  pleas  court  sitting  as  return  judges. 

Since  the  uniform  primary  acts  were  adopted  in  the 
interest  of  reform,  it  was  possible  to  include  in  them 
numerous  improvements,  which,  though  apparently 
slight,  were  in  reality  important.  The  paragraph  of  the 
law  making  it  more  difficult  to  give  unnecessary  assist- 
ance is  one  of  these,  and  the  provision  of  the  law  in  refer- 
ence to  opening  the  ballot  box  is  another.  The  shadow 
which  rests  upon  our  whole  election  procedure  is  the 
fact  that  it  is  made  very  difficult  to  have  a  ballot  box 
opened  and  the  count  verified.  The  purity  of  the  ballot 
ought  to  be  absolutely  above  suspicion,  and  instead  of 
making  it  difficult  to  have  a  ballot  box  opened  and  the 
contents  recounted,  it  would  be  far  better  if  the  law 
would  provide  that  a  certain  number  of  ballot  boxes,  de- 
termined by  chance,  must  be  opened  at  each  election. 
Nothing  would  go  farther  towards  discouraging  crime  at 
elections   than  the  knoMdedge  that  detection  would  be 

(11)  See.  13. 

(12)  Sec.  9. 


THE   PRIMARY   ELECTION.  235 

easy.  The  men  who  secured  the  passage  of  the  uniform 
primary  act  were  practical  men  who  had  had  very  dis- 
couraging experience  in  trying  to  have  suspicious  ballot 
boxes  opened,  and  consequently,  in  drawing  the  new  act, 
they  took  good  care  to  provide  an  easy  method  by  which 
the  primary  ballot  boxes  could  be  opened.  The  subse- 
quent history  of  this  clause  is  enlightening.  The  pro- 
vision of  the  law  as  originally  enacted  is  as  follows: 
'^Upon  petition  of  ten  qualified  electors  of  any  county, 
setting  forth  that  fraud  has  been  committed  in  any  elec- 
tion district  of  said  county,  together  with  a  statement  of 
the  reasons  why  such  an  assertion  is  made,  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  county  commissioners  to  open  the  ballot 
box  of  the  said  district  and  to  recount  the  vote.^^ 

It  would  seem  clear  enough  from  this  phraseology 
that  if  ten  voters  in  the  district  believed  that  fraud  had 
been  committed  and  would  so  state,  together  with  their 
reasons,  that  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  that  the  ballot 
box  should  be  opened.  The  Supreme  Court,  however, 
decided  that  the  duties  of  the  county  commissioners  in 
this  regard,  are  not  merely  ministerial  but  that  the  act 
vests  in  them  a  discretion  to  determine  the  sufficiency  of 
the  petition,  and  to  reject  any  irregular  or  groundless 
applications.^^ 

Of  course,  as  the  detailed  evidence  of  the  fraud  was 
inside  the  ballot  box,  the  new  law  so  interpreted  was  not 
much  better  than  the  old  one.  The  next  time  the  Legis- 
lature got  a  chance  they  proceeded  to  put  the  law  in 
such  a  shape  as  to  overcome  the  difficulty  raised  by  this 
interpretation,  and  so  they  provided,  ''Upon  the  sworn 
petition  of  five  qualified  electors  of  any  election  precinct, 
division  or  district,  that  any  specific  act  of  fraud,  which, 
upon  information  which  they  consider  reliable,  they  be- 
lieve has  been  committed  in  any  election  precinct,  divis- 

(13)  Act  February  17,  1906,  part  of  Sec.  11. 

(14)  Madden  vs.  Moore,  228,  Pa.  503. 


236  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ion  or  district  of  the  county,  the  court  of  common  pleas 
of  said  county  shall  order  the  county  commissioners  to 
open  the  ballot  box  of  said  election  precinct,  division  or 
district  and  recount  the  vote."  ^^  The  changes  made  by 
this  legislation  were  to  reduce  the  number  of  petitioners 
from  ten  to  five,  to  provide  that  the  petitioners  need  only 
have  information  which  they  consider  reliable,  and  they 
must  only  specify  fraud  which  they  believe  has  been 
committed.  Also,  instead  of  the  petition  being  directed 
to  the  county  commissioners  in  the  first  place,  it  is  made 
to  the  court  who  shall  order  the  county  commissioner  to 
open  the  ballot  box.  A  further  most  significant  change 
made  in  the  law  by  this  statute  was  that  the  five  petition- 
ing electors  might  be  of  any  district  and  not  necessarily 
of  the  district  the  ballot  box  of  which  it  was  sought  to 
open.  Anyone  who  is  familiar  with  practical  election 
details  knows  that  in  the  district  where  fraud  is  most 
likely  to  be  perpetrated  there  is  the  least  possibility  of 
finding  five  citizens  of  sufficient  backbone  to  institute  the 
proceeding  for  the  correction  and  detection  of  the  fraud. 
Startling  election  frauds  at  the  primaries  of  1915  in 
Pittsburgh  resulted  in  litigation  which  put  this  latter 
provision  to  a  supreme  test.  It  was  contended  by  the 
eminent  attorney  for  the  parties  who  felt  that  their  best 
interests  would  be  preserved  by  preventing  the  opening 
of  the  ballot  boxes  that  the  law  should  be  interpreted  to 
mean  that  petitions  for  recount  must  be  made  by  five 
electors  in  the  district  where  a  recount  is  asked.  The 
court  in  its  opinion  shows  how  hard  it  is  for  the  judicial 
mind  to  shake  off  the  idea  that  there  is  something  wrong 
about  the  opening  of  a  ballot  box.  The  court  said,  in 
part: 

"It  is  argued  en  the  one  part  that  the  legislature  could  not 
have  meant  to  authorize  the  opening  of  a  ballot  box  upon  the 
petition  of  five  electors  of  some  other  precinct,  and  that,  there- 

(15)   Act  April  6,  1911,  P.  L.  43,  Sec.  4. 


THE  PRIMARY   ELECTIOX.  237 

fore,  the  allegation  of  fraud  in  "any"  precinct  must  be  construed 
to  mean  an  allegation  of  fraud  in  "such"  precinct  or  precincts. 

"And  it  is  argued  on'  the  other  hand  that  as  the  legislature 
has  used  the  term  'any  precinct'  in  this  connection,  its  words 
must  be  taken  in  their  ordinary  sense." 

"There  is  much  force  in  each  of  these  contentions,  and  the 
act  might  bear  either  interpretation." 

It  is  somewliat  difficult  for  the  non-judicial  mind  to 
see  why  the  first  argument  has  any  force  whatsoever,  for 
there  is  no  inherent  reason  why  five  electors  of  one  pre- 
cinct should  not  petition  for  the  opening  of  a  ballot  box 
in  another  district,  in  fact,  it  is  most  normal  and  natural 
that  they  should  do  so,  since  the  citizens  who  are  willing 
to  take  the  trouble  to  contest  election  frauds  are  more 
apt  to  be  found  in  a  district  where  fraud  does  not  occur, 
than  in  the  districts  where  it  does.  However,  the  court 
finally  comes  out  on  the  right  side  and  concludes  the 
argument  by  saying : 

"We  are  of  the  opinion  that  it  ought  to  be  interpreted  to 
further  its  general  purpose,  which  is  to  preserve  the  sanctity  of 
the  ballot."  16 

The  Supreme  Court  has  taken  the  same  position  by 
affiiTning  the  opinion  of  the  lower  court  in  this  case.^' 

Notwithstanding  the  care  of  the  Legislature,  how- 
ever, a  loophole  was  still  left.  The  draftsman  had  made 
a  mistake  in  referring  to  ''specific"  acts  of  fraud.  As 
long  as  the  evidence  lies  securely  locked  in  the  box  it  is 
difficult  to  be  sufficiently  specific.  So  the  Legislature 
tried  it  again,  and  made  the  following  significant 
changes  :^^  The  word  ''specific"  was  omitted,  so  that 
the  allegation  of  any  fraud  believed  to  have  been  com- 
mitted is  sufficient,  and  then,  fearful  that  the  discrepancy 
that  awakened  the  suspicion  of  the  petitioners  might  be 

(16)  Newspaper  report  appearinii  in  the  Philadelphia  Public 
Lodger,  Thursday,  September  30,  1915. 

(17)  Braddoek  Borough  Election  Case.  251  Pa.  110. 

(18)  Act  July  12,  1913,  P.  L.  719.  Sec.  16. 


238  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

set  down  to  error,  and  so  not  come  under  the  statute,  the 
words  ''or  error"  are  added. 

NON-PARTISAN    PRIMARIES   AND    ELECTIONS. 

The  non-partisan  primary  and  election  act  ^^  repre- 
sents the  current  of  election  reform  running  counter  to 
that  represented  by  the  party  enrollment  act.  The  non- 
partisan act  affects  only  judges  (including  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court  and  Superior  Court)  and  officers  of  cities 
of  the  second  class.  It  would  appear  evident  on  the  face 
of  the  act  that  it  must  be  the  mangled  remains  of  a  more 
comprehensive  bill.  That  judges  should  be  elected  with- 
out reference  to  party  is  easy  to  comprehend.  And  it 
is  not  hard  to  understand  why  municipal  officers  should 
be  elected  on  a  non-partisan  ballot,  but  it  seems  a  little 
peculiar  to  limit  the  non-partisan  system  in  municipal 
affairs  to  cities  of  the  second  class.  The  surface  indica- 
tions are  the  truth.  The  non-partisan  bill  when  intro- 
duced was  a  comprehensive  and  logical  bill.  Its  voyage 
was  stormy,  and  it  came  to  port  not  without  loss  of  cargo 
and  rigging,  but  the  important  element,  the  non-partisan 
principle  of  election  to  office  where  party  has  no  place, 
was  preserved. 

When  the  non-partisan  act  becomes  more  familiar  it 
will  not  appear  intricate  or  confusing,  but  amid  the  revo- 
lutionary changes  of  the  election  laws  made  by  the  Legis- 
lature in  1913  it  has  not  seemed  to  be  well  understood, 
and  for  this  reason  many  refrain  from  voting  for  the 
non-partisan  offices. 

In  the  non-partisan  system  the  idea  of  a  primary  as 
a  party  function  is  entirely  lost  sight  of  and  the  theory 
substituted  of  a  trial  heat,  or  elimination  race,  where 


(19)  Act  July  24,  1913,  P.  L.  1001.  Held  constitutional  in 
Winston  vs.  Moore,  244,  Pa.  477.  Amended  by  Act  May  18,  1917, 
P.  L. 


THE   PRIMARY   ELECTION.  239 

tlie  hopeless  candidates  are  weeded  out  and  only  the 
real  contestants  are  allowed  a  place  on  the  final  ballot. 

This  accomplishes  in  a  clumsy,  expensive  and  round- 
about way  what  could  be  done  better  by  a  system  of 
transferable  voting  whereby  the  voter  marked  his  first, 
second,  third  choice,  etc.  This  subject  lies  very  close 
to  that  great  electoral  reform  which  will  come  with  time, 
proportional  representation,  but  as  we  are  describing 
things  in  Pennsylvania  as  they  are,  rather  than  as  they 
should  be,  we  must  pass  this  by. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  voter,  when  he  regis- 
tered, was  asked  as  to  his  party  affiliations.  If  he  cared 
to  state  his  partj^  membership  he  was  registered  as  a 
member  of  that  party.  But  if  he  did  not,  no  party  mem- 
bership was  recorded  for  him.  Consequently,  at  tlie 
succeeding  primary,  two  classes  of  voters  appear,  those 
who  w^ere  registered  as  party  members,  and  those  who 
were  registered  without  any  party  affiliation.  The  party 
members  are  furnished  with  the  ballot  of  their  own  party 
— for  there  is  a  separate  ballot  for  each  party — 
and  in  addition  are  given  a  non-partisan  ballot  contain- 
ing the  names  of  the  candidates  for  the  offices  covered  bj^ 
the  non-partisan  act.  The  second  class  of  voters,  not 
being  registered  as  members  of  any  party,  cannot  par- 
ticipate with  any  of  the  parties  in  choosing  its  candi- 
dates, but  are  restricted  to  voting  the  non-partisan  bal- 
lot. Somehow  the  idea  seems  to  have  spread  abroad  that 
voters  who  do  not  declare  their  party  connection  cannot 
vote  at  the  primary  election  at  all,  but  tliis  is  entirely 
erroneous.  Such  voters  have  the  same  right  as  any  oth- 
ers to  vote  the  non-partisan  ballot. 

When  for  any  office  covered  by  the  non-partisan  act 
one  person  is  to  be  elected,  the  two  persons  receiving  the 
highest  number  of  votes  on  the  non-partisan  ballot  at  the 
primary,  become  the  nominees.  And,  in  general,  twice 
as  manv  nominees  are  taken  from  the  highest  on  the  list 


240  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

as  there  are  persons  to  be  elected.  There  is  one  rather 
singular  exception  to  this.  There  is  a  provision  in  the 
act  that  in  a  case  where  one  person  is  to  be  elected  to 
an  office,  and  some  candidate  gets  a  majority  of  the 
votes  cast  for  that  office,  and  also  a  number  greater  than 
one-half  of  all  the  ballots  cast  at  the  primary,  he  shall 
be  the  sole  nominee.  The  purpose  of  this  provision  is 
ostensibly  to  obviate  the  necessity  of  a  candidate  going 
through  the  trials  of  an  election  when  he  has  already 
demonstrated  that  he  is  the  popular  choice  by  obtaining 
a  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast  at  the  primary.  If  every 
voter  attended  the  primary,  there  would  be  no  flaw  in 
this  reasoning,  but  every  practical  politician  knows  that 
the  primary  vote  is  always  much  less  than  the  vote  at  the 
election.  Unfortunately.  1;he  difference  is  largely  ac- 
counted for  by  the  fact  that  the  independent  voter,  the 
man  with  whom  politics  is  not  a  trade,  and  who,  there- 
fore, is  a  disinterested  voter,  is  prone  to  stay  away  from 
the  primary.  Consequently,  a  candidate  might  easily 
receive  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  at  the  primary  and 
still  not  be  the  popular  choice.  For  this  reason  this  pro- 
vision in  the  act  must  be  condemned,  although  at  the 
same  time  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  fundamental 
difficulty  lies  with  the  voters  themselves  for  not  partici- 
pating in  the  primary. 

At  the  election  a  separate  ballot  is  no  longer  used, 
but  the  candidates  nominated  at  the  non-partisan  pri- 
mary appear  on  the  same  ballot  as  the  other  candidates, 
though  they  are  set  off  from  the  others  by  a  solid  border 
not  less  than  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  in  width  and  are 
headed  with  the  following  words  in  large  type,  ''judic- 
ial AND  CITY  TICKET NON-PARTISAN.''  AlsO,  iu  ad- 
dition to  the  ordinary  instructions  printed  on  the 
ballot  are  instructions  to  the  effect  that  a  cross  in  the 
party  square  does  not  carry  a  vote  for  any  judge  or  any 
other  officer  nominated  at    the    non-partisan    primary. 


THE  PRIMARY  ELECTION.  241 

There  are  thousands  of  voters  who  either  will  not  read 
the  instructions  at  the  head  of  the  ballot,  or  else  cannot 
understand  them  and  go  on  marking  the  straight  party 
ticket  without  respect  to  the  non-partisan  officers.  These 
get  what  they  deserve.  They  disfranchise  themselves  to 
that  extent.  As  this  becomes  better  understood  the  num- 
ber of  such  voters  will  probably  decrease,  and  so  gradu- 
ally the  education  in  non-partisanship  will  spread  until 
it  will  seem  natural  for  everybody  to  follow  party  only 
where  party  has  a  right  to  be,  and  to  disregard  party 
where  party  has  no  place. 

The  non-partisan  primary  and  election  is,  of  course, 
only  an  opportunity  for  non-partisan  voting.  It  cannot 
change  the  motives  for  which  people  vote,  and  it  is 
to  be  expected,  as  experience  has  proved,  that  the  known 
party  affiliation  of  the  candidates  will  have  much  to  do  in 
attracting  the  votes  which  they  receive.  In  fact,  there 
are  many  cases  where  the  party  affiliation  is  about  all 
the  voter  knows  of  the  candidate.  It  is  much  easier  to 
find  out,  for  instance,  whether  a  candidate  for  judge  is 
a  Republican,  Democrat  or  Progressive,  than  it  is  to 
find  out  whether  he  is  a  good  laA\yer.  Where  the  candi- 
dates are  generally  unknown  to  the  mass  of  voters,  as  is 
apt  to  be  the  case  in  State-w^ide  judgeship  campaigns, 
there  are  always  many  voters  who  have  no  knowledge 
whatever  of  the  candidates,  but  who  will  not  refrain  from 
voting  on  that  account,  and  so  vote  at  random.  These 
are  usually  too  lazy  to  go  far  dowm  the  column,  so  those 
candidates  with  names  far  up  in  the  alphabet  get  a  rather 
unfair  advantage.  The  act  should  be  amended  to  pro- 
vide, as  has  been  done  in  some  other  States,  that  the  bal- 
lots should  be  so  arranged  as  to  average  this  chance  vote. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


THE   ELECTION. 


IN  Pennsylvania  there  is  now  but  one  regular  election 
a  year,  held  on  the  Tuesday  following  the  first  Mon- 
day of  November.  The  election  falling  in  the  even 
numbered  years  is  called  the  general  election.  At  this 
time  the  voters  choose  presidential  electors  and  State 
and  national  officers.  The  election  falling  in  the  odd  num- 
bered years  is  called  the  municipal  election  and  at  it  are 
chosen  all  local  officers.  Superior  and  Supreme  Court 
judges  may  be  elected  at  either  time. 

This  separation  of  local  from  general  election.s  is  sig- 
nificant of  a  great  advance  in  the  political  life  of  Penn- 
sylvania. In  treating  of  the  irrelevancies  of  government 
by  party,  we  have  already  suggested  the  folly  of  govern- 
ing a  city  by  means  of  parties  based  on  national  issues. 
This  evil  was  recognized  by  the  makers  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Constitution  and  they  attempted  to  forestall  it  by 
providing  that  the  local  election  should  be  held  in  Feb- 
ruary and  the  general  election  in  November,  hoping 
that  this  separation  of  elections  would  lead  the  people  to 
combine  in  local  parties  in  February  and  return  to  their 
national  parties  in  November.  Much  was  achieved  by 
this  arrangement,  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  but  that  vot- 
ing at  the  February  election  has  been  much  more  closely 
related  to  the  local  issues  than  would  have  been  the  case 
had  the  same  offices  been  voted  for  in  conjunction  with 
offices  of  national  significance,  but  the  result  fell  far 
short  of  the  anticipation. 

In  the  first  place,  county  offices  were  not  considered 
local,  and  hence  many  of  the  offices  which  are  as  truly 
local  as  the  city  offices,  did  not  share  in  the  separation. 
242 


THE   ELECTION.  243 

In  the  second  place  the  separation  was  not  great  enough 
in  point  of  time.  After  the  political  effort  expended  on 
a  general  election  the  people  were  seldom  in  a  mood  to 
begin  at  once  a  new  campaign  for  the  February  election. 
This  condition  naturally  played  into  the  hands  of  the 
professionals.  Unsatisfactory  as  the  system  of  dual 
elections  w^as,  however,  it  is  not  likely  that  it  would  have 
been  altered  for  a  long  time  to  come,  had  not  a  reform 
in  another  direction  made  matters  doubly  bad  in  this. 
The  uniform  primary  act,  while  not  in  reality  making 
any  more  elections  (for,  of  course,  the  parties  always 
had  some  sort  of  primaries),  seemed  to  introduce  two 
more  elections  a  year,  making  a  total  of  four.  This  was 
sufficient  to  produce  the  motive  power  for  a  series  of 
amendments  to  the  Constitution,  adopted  in  1909,  which 
provided  a  general  election  at  the  time  of  the  election  of 
President  and  Governor,  that  is  to  say  the  even  num- 
bered years,  and  a  local  election  in  the  odd  numbered 
years,  thus  reducing  the  number  of  elections,  counting 
primaries,  to  two  a  year. 

The  election  itself,  although  it  is  the  crowning  act 
to  which  registration,  enrollment  and  primary  but  lead 
up,  need  not  detain  us  long,  because  it  is  conducted  under 
laws,  which,  for  the  most  part,  have  been  in  force  for  a 
long  time  and  are  generally  familiar. 

The  voter  enters  the  polling  place  and  announces  his 
name.  Reference  is  made  to  the  ballot  check  list,  pre- 
pared from  the  registrars'  lists,  and,  if  he  is  registered, 
he  is  given  a  ballot,  unless  his  right  to  receive  it  is  chal- 
lenged. This  seldom  happens,  as  all  preliminary  ques- 
tions have  been  disposed  of  on  registration  day.  Practi- 
cally the  only  grounds  on  which  a  challenge  can  be  based 
is  that  the  applicant  is  not  the  person  whom  he  repre- 
sents himself  to  be,  or  that  he  no  longer  resides  in  the 
election  district.  In  the  former  case,  the  description 
contained  in  the  register  is  compared  witli  the  applicant. 


244  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVAXLA.. 

and  lie  is  compelled  to  sign  his  name  for  comparison  with 
the  signature  at  the  time  of  registration.  If  it  is  claimed 
that  he  has  removed,  his  affidavit  on  the  subject  is 
taken. 

On  receiving  his  ballot  the  voter  retires  to  a  booth, 
fronted  with  a  curtain.  There  he  finds  a  little  shelf,  and 
a  crayon  pencil.  If  voters  are  waiting,  he  has  but  three 
minutes  to  mark  his  ballot. 

The  ballot  is,  in  reality,  not  difficult  to  mark,  but 
under  the  conditions  of  hurry  and  bad  light  it  is  often 
confusing  and  many  people  of  adequate  intelligence  in 
other  matters  feel  themselves  unequal  to  marking  it  in 
any  way  except  the  very  easiest,  the  straight  party  vote. 
Voting  in  this  manner  is  also  stimulated  by  the  carefully 
fostered  tradition  that  the  election  officers  will  throw  out 
split  tickets  as  improperly  marked,  and  the  voter  will 
lose  his  vote.  Unfortunately,  there  is  some  truth  in  the 
latter  fear,  as  the  easiest  election  fraud  is  to  throw  out 
ballots  arbitrarily  on  alleged  technical  grounds,  and 
sometimes  an  officer  or  watcher,  with  a  pencil  end  con- 
cealed in  his  hand,  will  surreptitiously  add  a  cross  to 
opposition  ballots,  and  thus  spoil  them,  yet  leave  no  evi- 
dence of  the  crime. 

The  fact  that  it  is  easier  and  safer  to  vote  a  straight 
party  ticket  constitutes  the  unfairness  of  the  present 
ballot,  for  it  discriminates  against  the  candidate  who 
may  not  happen  to  be  on  a  full  party  ticket.  The  bal- 
lot box  stuffer  may  vitiate  one  election,  but  the  unfair 
law  taints  all.  The  courts  were  urged  to  hold  the  pres- 
ent ballot  law  unconstitutional  because  this  fundamental 
unfairness  prevented  the  election  from  being  ''free  and 
equal,"  but  the  Supreme  Court  did  not  see  it  that  way.^ 

The  first  thing  on  the  ballot  is  a  column  at  the  left 
composed  of  the  names  of  the  various  parties,  each  with 

(1)  Oughton  vs.  Black,  212  Pa.  1.  However,  three  justices 
dissented. 


SAJVLPX^E:     B/k.LX^t3T 


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PROPOSeO  AMENDMENTS  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION 

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WASHINGTON-Primary  Ballot 

^^^^K  »'de5if  ci)unly  ol  Philadelphia.  Stale  of  Pennsylvania.  Primary  held  on  the  21st ^y  o(  September,  1915. 

Make  a  cross  (X)  in  the  square  to  the  right  of  each  candidate  for  whom  you  wish  to  vote.  .,,,.,. 

If  you  desire  to  vote  for  a  person  whose  name  is  not  on  the  ballot,  write  or  paste  his  name  in  the  blank  space  provided  for  that  purposa. 


MAYOR 


CITY  CONTROLLER 


CITY  SOLICITOR 


RECORDER  of  DEEDS 


MAGISTRATES  (Vote  for  U) 


County  Commissioners 


Cony«c9  B.  Cnham . 


SHERIFF 


JoMph  T.  McOcvrtt  . 


J&mn  J    McCm  . 


John  F.  McNfnny  . 


CORONER 


Joteph  F.  X.  Qurnn  . 


t  P.  Shcncmvt  . 


SELECT  COUNCIL 


COMMON  COUNCIL 


Edward  B.  Howtrd.. 


Robert  E.  Lvnbvr 


CONSTABLE 


Btephan  P.  Haw%t^. 


JoMph  Re«vM  Thompson  . 


Jamn  H.  Touchill 


Hlchman  P.  WaJk«r  . 


Chartea  H.  Suptr. 


SCHOOL  VISITORS 


Director  ot  Poor 


ChariM  M.  Thompton., 


CLERK.  COORT  of  OYER  JBdTfRIIKEII 
MilQUARIEH  SESSIONS  of  me  PEICE 


ELECTION  OFFICERS 

JUDGE. 


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THE   ELECTION.  245 

a  square  after  it  in  which  a  cross  can  be  placed  to  vote 
for  every  candidate  of  the  party  on  the  ballot. 

Under  the  present  law  the  candidates  are  grouped  ac- 
cording to  the  office  they  are  striving  for,  instead  of  ac- 
cording to  the  party  by  which  they  were  nominated. 
Previously  eacli  party  had  its  own  column  and  a  circle 
at  the  head,  a  cross  in  which  voted  for  every  man  under 
it.  Thus  arose  the  expression,  "Voting  in  the  party 
column,"  which  is  still  in  current  use  to  designate  voting 
a  straight  party  ticket. 

After  the  name  of  each  candidate  is  printed  the  name 
of  the  party  which  nominated  him,  and  then  follows  a 
square  in  which  a  cross  mark  may  be  made  to  vote  for 
that  candidate  separately. 

After  each  office  group  are  blank  spaces  where  may 
be  written  or  pasted  the  name  of  candidates  not  on  the 
official  ballot.  This  writing  or  pasting  of  names,  is,  of 
course,  a  troublesome  process,  and  enough  persons  are 
not  likely  to  do  it  to  have  any  result  on  the  election,  but 
occasionally  when  a  well  organized  effort  is  made  to  sup- 
ply voters  witli  a  name  printed  on  a  piece  of  gummed 
paper,  called  a  sticker,  an  election  can  be  won  for  a  can- 
didate whose  name  does  not  appear  on  the  ballot. 

The  fear  of  the  voter  of  spoiling  his  ballot  has  been 
augmented  by  what  seems  to  be  the  over-technicality  of 
the  Supreme  Court  in  this  matter. 

A  liberal  construction  of  the  election  law  would  fol- 
low the  rule  in  the  construction  of  a  will,  that  the  intent, 
if  ascertainable,  should  be  given  effect.  The  Supreme 
Court,  however,  does  not  take  this  attitude,  holding,  in 
a  case  where  a  voter  had  marked  a  name  on  a  ballot  and 
tlien  written  the  same  name  in  the  blank  space  on  the  bal- 
lot, apparently  for  the  purpose  of  allowing  no  possible 
mistake  as  to  his  desire  to  vote  for  that  candidate : 

"It  is  not  enouoli  that  the  intention  of  the  voter  may  possibly 
be  ascertained  or  his  irregular  or  equivocal   acts  explained  by 


246  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

other  evidence  than  his  ballot.  The  legislature  specifically 
directed  how  it  should  be  prepared  and  used  by  the  voter,  in  order 
to  avoid  all  such  inquiries  and  the  consequences  likely  to  result 
therefrom.  It  was  intended  that  the  ballot  when  prepared  by 
the  voter  and  delivered  to  the  proper  election  officer  should  be 
self  explanatory. '  '2 

Even  if  the  court  will  not  allow  the  slightest  ambiguity 
to  be  resolved  by  the  election  officers,  it  would  at  least 
seem  that  they  might  allow  a  ballot  to  be  counted  for  all 
the  offices  about  which  there  could  be  no  shadow  of 
doubt  as  to  the  voter's  intention.  So  where  a  voter 
marks  a  cross  in  a  party  square  and  afterwards  marks 
an  individual  candidate  belonging  to  some  other  party, 
there  would  be  some  doubt,  though  not  much,  as  to  what 
he  intended  in  relation  to  that  particular  office,  but  no 
doubt  whatsoever  as  to  the  remaining  offices.  The 
statute  does  not  seem  doubtful.     It  provides : 

''If  a  voter  has  marked  his  ballot  otherwise  than  as  directed 
by  this  act,  so  that  for  any  reason  it  is  impossible  to  determine 
the  voter's  choice  for  any  ofl&ce  to  be  filled,  his  ballot  shall  not  be 
counted  for  such  office;  but  the  ballot  shall  be  counted  for  all 
other  offices  for  which  the  names  of  candidates  have  been  properly 
marked "3 

But  the  Supreme  Court  was  inexorable  and  held  that 
such  a  ballot  must  be  thrown  out  entirely.^ 

A  judge  of  election  who  had  been  confronted  with 
this  question  and  had  been  studying  the  digest  of  elec- 
tion laws  in  Smull's  Legislative  Handbook  for  light,  re- 
marked, ''The  law  said  one  thing  and  the  Supreme  Court 
said  another,  and  I  did  what  the  law  said."  It  is  hard 
to  blame  him.^ 


(2)  In  re  Contested  Election  of  Redman,  173  Pa.  59. 

(3)  Act  April  29,  1903,  P.  L.  338,  Sec.  4. 

(4)  Dailey's  Appeal,  232  Pa.  540. 

(5)  Summing  up  the  law  in  the  various  states  the  writer  in 
Cyclopedia  of  Law  and  Procedure  says,  "Almost  every  conceivable 
mark  which  a  voter  could  make  or  omit  to  make  has  been  the  subject 
of  discussion  in  the  various  cases  which  have  been  before  the  courts; 
and   although  statutes  regulating  the  manner  in  which   voters  shall 


THE    ELECTION.  *  247 

Each  party  is  entitled  to  tAvo  watchers.  Tliese  are 
credentialed  by  certificates  from  the  County  Commis- 
sioners and  are  privileged  to  remain  in  the  voting  room 
not  only  all  day,  but,  what  is  far  more  important,  dur- 
ing the  count  at  night.  Only  one  watcher  of  each  party 
is  allowed  in  the  voting  room  at  one  time.  The  purpose 
in  having  two  is  that  they  may  relieve  each  other.  This 
is  quite  necessary,  as  the  hours  of  duty  are  from  6.45 
A.  M.  to  midnight,  and  occasionally  to  daylight  the  next 
day,  and  the  vigilance  must  be  unremitting,  for  should 
there  be  a  disposition  to  commit  fraud,  advantage  is  al- 
ways taken  of  even  the  smallest  absence  of  the  watcher. 

Besides  the  "watcher,"  there  is  also  the  "worker." 
The  number  of  workers  is  unlimited  save  by  the  cam- 
paign fund  available,  or,  more  rarely,  by  the  condition  of 
jmblic  feeling.  The  watchers  and  workers  together  con- 
stitute that  apparently  aimless  group  that  decorates  the 
sidewalk  before  every  polling  place.  The  function  of  the 
worker  is  to  "get  out  the  vote."  Every  practical  politi- 
cian knows  that  a  vast  number  of  voters,  usually  holding 
the  balance  of  power,  always  follow  the  line  of  least  re- 
sistance. This  line  is  to  stay  at  home,  unless  the  worker 
is  so  active  that  the  easier  thing  to  do  is  to  vote.  Once 
there  was  an  important  election  and  eight  to  ten  citizens 
had  volunteered  as  workers  during  the  late  afternoon, 
when  voting  was  briskest.  The  watcher  on  duty  had  on 
his  list  the  name  of  a  voter  who  had  not  yet  been  at  the 
polls.  Tlie  first  worker  to  report  for  duty  was  sent  after 
the  delinquent  voter  and  came  back  without  him.  The 
second  worker  was  sent  on  the  same  mission  without  being 
apprised  of  the  ill  success  of  his  predecessor.     He  like- 


indicate  their  choice  are  held  to  be  mandatory,  yet  through  it  aJl 
runs  the  iiCJieral  principle  of  construction  that  a  voter  should  not  be 
disfranchised  if  it  is  clear  that  he  has  made  an  honest  effort  to  com- 
ply with  the  requisites  of  the  statute,  although  he  has  been  more  or 
less  unsuccessful.     15  Cye.  353. 


248  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

wise  returned  empty  handed.  So  each  arriving  volunteer 
was  commissioned  and  each  returned  to  meet  the  eager 
group  of  earlier  failures  curious  as  to  the  manner  of  the 
last  rebuff.  Finally,  the  seventh  man  returned  with  the 
voter.  Strange  though  it  may  seem,  the  victim  said  noth- 
ing to  indicate  to  his  last  visitor  that  he  Avas  not  his 
first.  No  doubt  he  reasoned  that  is  was  easier  to  vote 
than  to  entertain  politicians  all  afternoon. 

The  cohorts  of  the  professional  politicians  are  greatly 
superior  in  discipline  and  constancy  to  the  groups  of  pub- 
lic spirited  citizens  engaged  in  public  work,  but  when 
the  public  actually  are  aroused  and  the  able  men  of  the 
community  come  forward,  the  volunteer  workers  easily 
out-distance  their  professional  opponents  by  reason  of 
their  greater  intelligence,  greater  activity  and  better  ad- 
dress. These  volunteers  are  like  the  minute  men,  ready 
in  time  of  stress  to  undergo  great  exertions  for  the  gen- 
eral good,  but,  for  the  most  part,  leaving  the  routine  work 
to  the  regulars. 

The  count  of  the  ballots  is  a  laborious  process,  and, 
considering  the  pressure,  the  fatigue  of  the  officers,  the 
bad  ventilation  and  insufficient  or  over-brilliant  illumi- 
nation, it  is  marvellous  that  the  results  are  as  accurate 
as  they  are. 

The  election  officers  are  five  in  number.  Foremost  is 
the  judge  of  election.  Under  the  law  he  renders  no  de- 
cision unless  the  two  inspectors  cannot  agree,  when  his 
decision  is  appealed  to.  But  in  practice  he  usually  de- 
cides directly,  and,  in  general,  he  is  in  charge.  The  two 
inspectors  represent  the  majority  and  minority  parties 
respectively  and  are  the  court  of  first  instance  in  decid- 
ing points  raised  during  the  election.  Each  inspector  has 
a  clerk. 

The  statutes  give  quite  detailed  directions  as  to  how 
the  count  is  to  be  conducted,  but  these  are  mostly  honored 
in  the  breach.    If  the  election  officers  are  honest  and  in- 


THE    ELECTION.  249 

telligent,  not  much  more  need  be  hoped  for.  Great  tally 
sheets  are  provided,  ruled  in  little  squares  with  the 
names  of  the  candidates  in  a  column  at  the  left  of  the 
sheet.  The  judge  opens  the  ballot  box  and  reads  each 
ballot,  while  the  officers  in  charge  of  the  tally  sheets  mark 
a  stroke  after  the  name  of  the  candidate  voted  for. 
Straight  party  voting  unquestionably  facilitates  the 
count,  and  primary  elections,  where  there  can  be  no 
straight  voting,  where  there  is  a  multiplicity  of  candi- 
dates and  a  confusing  number  of  ballots,  are  the  despair 
of  election  officers.  In  some  cases  election  boards  have 
been  known  to  be  still  hard  at  work  late  the  day  after 
election. 

The  straight  votes  are  separated  and  totalled  anil  an 
appropriate  number  of  strokes  quickly  inserted  after 
each  name.  The  watcher  must  be  keenly  attentive  to  see 
that  no  split  ballot  is  Imrried  into  the  pile  of  straights. 
This  is  a  ''mistake"  that  may  happen  under  the  most 
honest  judge,  as  there  may  be  sleight  of  hand  artists 
among  the  other  persons  in. the  room.  Also,  the  watcher 
should  see  that  the  ballot  box  does  not  leave  his  sight  a 
single  second,  lest  it  become  a  changeling. 

In  cities  a  policeman  always  attends  the  count  and 
secures  the  result  for  important  offices  as  soon  as  it  is 
ascertained.  He  luirries  off  to  headfiuarters  with  this,  or 
telephones  it  if  he  is  at  a  distance.  Thus  tliat  marvel- 
ously  speedy  information  is  obtained  which  enables  the 
newspapers  to  give  the  important  results  often  before  the 
election  boards  have  completed  the  details. 

From  the  tally  sheets,  returns  are  made  up  in  tripli- 
cate on  large  sheets  prepared  befoi-ehand.  One  of  tliese 
sheets  is  posted  outside  tlie  polling  place  for  the  informa- 
tion of  the  locality,  and  another  becomes  the  official  re- 
turn, and  the  third  is  given  to  the  minority  inspector  to 
serve  as  a  check  against  any  alteration  that  might  be 
attempted  after  the  returns  are  signed. 


250  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

When  the  election  is  close  and  it  becomes  evident  that 
the  computation  of  the  vote  will  have  to  be  watched  with 
greatest  care  lest  an  error  cost  the  election,  the  wise  cam- 
paigner will  send  instantly  to  every  division  for  a  copy 
of  the  returns  from  the  paper  posted  outside.  '  Armed 
with  this  he  can  prepare  his  petitions  for  opening  ballot 
boxes,  and  can  detect  any  discrepancy  in  the  returns  as 
filed.  Unfortunately,  by  reason  of  gross  carelessness 
and  sometimes  downright  fraud,  these  discrepancies  are 
by  no  means  unusual. 

The  computing  is  done  under  the  supervision  of 
judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  sitting  as  return 
judges,  and  monotonous  work  it  is.  In  this  way  county 
totals  are  secured.  In  the  case  of  officials  elected  by 
the  State  at  large  the  final  computing  is  done  at  a  joint 
session  of  the  two  houses  of  the  general  assembly. 

THE  AFTERMATH. 

Of  all  the  treasons  that  assault  the  State,  bribery  and 
election  fraud  are  the  most  insidious.  Of  the  two,  bribery 
is  the  worse,  in  that  it  corrupts  not  only  the  vote,  but  also 
the  voter.  This  crime  is  most  difficult  to  uproot  because 
it  depends  on  a  state  of  mind,  a  thing  notoriously  hard 
to  prove.  Also,  sad  to  relate,  the  candidate  is  often  more 
sinned  against  than  sinning,  for  the  electorate  often  in- 
sist on  something  that  very  nearly  approaches  bribery, 
as  Poo  Bah,  in  the  ''Mikado,"  after  being  insulted  by 
being  offered  a  gratuity,  turns  his  back  with  his  hollowed 
hands  behind  and  says,  "Insult  me  again." 

England  has  taken  the  lead  in  providing  definite  legis- 
lation for  protecting  the  purity  of  elections,  defining  in 
detail  what  may  not  be  done.  In  1883  was  passed  the 
Corrupt  and  Illegal  Practices  Act."     This  is  a  sweeping 

(6)   cf.  A.  Lawrence  Lowell,  The  Government  of  England,  Vol.  I, 
p.  222ff,  New  York,  The  MaeMllan  Company,  1908. 


THE   ELECTION,  251 

and  stringent  piece  of  legislation,  and  what  is  more  to 
the  point,  it  seems  to  be  rigidly  enforced.  It  is  no  un- 
usual thing  for  members  elected  to  Parliament  to  lose 
their  seats  on  account  of  illegal  practices  of  their  agents 
of  which  the  candidates  have  no  knowledge. 

The  electoral  conditions  in  Pennsylvania  are  not  simi- 
lar to  those  in  England,  although  it  can  hardly  be  main- 
tained that  they  are  less  perverted,  but  election  perver- 
sion has  in  this  State  been  usually  due  either  to  actual 
fraud,  or  by  that  intangible  but  very  real  intimichition 
which  the  powerfully  organized  *' gangs"  in  control  in 
the  large  cities  are  able  to  exert.  Nevertheless  there  had 
long  been  a  crying  need  for  legislation  similar  to  the  cor- 
rupt practices  act  in  England.  The  penitential  session 
of  1906  produced  this  also  as  a  work  meet  for  repent- 
ance."^ The  act  was  modeled  on  the  English  precedent 
and  w^as  largely  the  work  of  the  late  Senator  Algernon  T. 
Roberts,  of  Montgomery  County,  a  man  who  combined 
in  a  marked  degree  practical  political  ability  with  higli 
ideals  and  broad  outlook,  whose  removal  from  public  life 
by  death  in  his  early  manhood,  was  a  great  loss  to  the 
State. 

The  theory  of  the  act  is  to  secure  an  account  for  all 
money  spent  on  elections.  Accordingly,  every  candidate 
either  at  a  primary  or  regular  election  is  required  to  file 
an  account  of  his  expenses,  every  political  committee 
must  similarly  account,  and  nobody  is  permitted  to  ex- 
pend any  money  on  elections  except  he  file  an  account 
of  it  or  contribute  it  to  a  candidate  or  committee,  who 
must  account  for  it.  Thus,  as  far  as  w^ords  can  secure  it, 
all  money  spent  on  elections  will  ])e  publicly  accounted 
for.  No  limit  is  put  on  the  total  amount  spent.  Probably 
it  was  felt  that  to  put  a  limit  would  simply  add  to  the 
temptation  to  conceal  expenditures,  while  the  confession 
to  large  expenditures  would  tend  to  correct  the  evil  as 

(7)   Act  March  5,  1906.  P.  L.  78. 


252  STATE  GOVEENMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

people  awoke  to  the  knowledge  that  elections  were  not 
carried  by  principles,  but  by  cash. 

It  is  undeniable  that  primary  elections  have  increased 
the  visible  amount  of  money  necessary  to  secure  nomina- 
tions, and  in  some  quarters  there  has  been  shown  a  dis- 
position to  bring  an  indictment  against  the  uniform  pri- 
mary system  on  this  score.  It  should  arouse  some  sus- 
picion to  note  that  such  attacks  emanate  from  sources  al- 
ways hostile  to  the  system  before  it  was  inaugurated.  No 
one  familiar  with  actual  election  practice  would  be  de- 
ceived. Under  the  older  convention  system  the  money 
necessary  to  win  nominations  did  not  appear  in  filed  ex- 
pense accounts.  That  was  before  the  time  of  the  cor- 
rupt practices  law,  though  had  there  been  such  a  law, 
money  spent  on  delegates  was  seldom  spent  in  such  a 
way  that  the  candidate  would  dare  account  for  it.  Often 
baser  exchange  than  mere  filthy  lucre  was  current.  Turn- 
ing on  the  light  often  reveals,  but  does  not  create  evil  con- 
ditions. The  truth  is  that  under  the  convention  system 
campaigns  for  nominations  could  hardly  be  made  by  in- 
dividuals at  all,  for  there  was  no  protection  to  their 
rights  at  the  soap  box  primaries,  and  no  assurance  that 
the  delegates  when  elected  would  remain  faithful,  so  as 
a  general  rule  the  party  resigned  itself  to  the  control  of 
its  bosses,  and  they  picked  as  bad  candidates  as  they 
thought  they  could  elect.  The  inauguration  of  the  law- 
protected  primary  has  stimulated  political  ambition  and 
enabled  independent  men  to  make,  with  some  hope  of  suc- 
cess, a  direct  appeal  to  the  people.  To  get  the  attention 
of  a  large  number  of  people  is  apt  to  be  expensive,  hence 
arise  the  complaints  against  the  primary  law. 

After  providing  that  all  election  expenses  be  ac- 
counted for,  the  law  then  enumerates  the  lawful  purposes 
of  expenditure  and  forbids  expenditure  for  any  other 
purpose. 


THE   ELECTION.  253 

Eig-lit  kinds  of  expendituro  are  lawful: 

First.  For  printing  and  travelling  expenses,  and  personal  ex- 
penses incident  thereto,  stationery,  advertising,  postage,  expressage, 
Ireight,  telegi'apli,  telephone,  and  public  messenger  service. 

Second.     For  dissemination  of  information  to  the  public. 

Third.  For  political  meetings,  demonstrations  and  conventions, 
and  for  the  pay , and  transportation  of  st>eakers. 

Fourth.    For  the  rent,  maintenance  and  furnishing  of  offices. 

Fiftli.  For  the  payment  of  clerks,  typewriters,  stenosraphers, 
janitors  and  messengers  actually  employed. 

Sixth.  For  the  employment  of  watchers  at  priman'  meetings 
and  elections,  to  the  number  allowed  by  law. 

Seventh.    For  the  transportation  of  voters  to  and  from  the  polls. 

Eighth.  For  legal  expenses  bona  fide  incurred  in  connection  with 
any  nomination  or  election. 

After  the  election,  primary  or  regular,  every  person 
liable  to  account  must  file  an  itemized  statement  accom- 
panied by  a  voucher  for  every  sum  in  excess  of  ten  dol- 
lars. To  prevent  a  flood  of  uniin])ortant  accounts  and 
the  public  annoyance  occasioned  by  useless  requirements, 
where  the  expenditures  have  been  less  than  fifty  dollars 
a  simple  affidavit  to  that  effect  is  sufficient. 

It  is  much  easier  to  draw  and  secure  the  passage  of 
an  act  requiring  minute  attention  by  a  great  number  of 
people,  than  it  is  to  secure  its  enforcement.  The  act  is 
drawn  with  this  in  view  and  takes  every  precaution  possi- 
ble. Any  violation  of  the  act  is,  of  course,  a  misdemean- 
or. More  than  that,  it  is  provided  that  no  person  elected 
can  take  office  until  his  account  is  filed,  and  where  any 
illegal  expenses  have  been  incurred,  the  office  is  declared 
vacant.  Not  content  with  such  general  provisions,  the 
law  details  how  the  fact  of  the  failure  to  file  a  proper 
account  can  be  established.  A  petition  by  five  electors 
praying  for  an  audit  of  any  expense  account  is  sufficient 
to  set  the  machinery  in  motion.  The  court  tlien  must 
take  the  matter  up  and  may  appoint  an  auditor.  Ex- 
j.erience  has  proved  that  proceedings  before  an  auditor 
can  be  very  expensive,  and  as  the  costs  must  be  paid  by 
those  who  initiate  the  proceedings  if  they  fail,  tliis  fact 


254  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

is  an  undue  discourager  of  showing  up  wrong  doing.  For 
this  reason,  the  act  wisely  limits  the  fee  of  the  auditor 
to  ten  dollars  a  day. 

The  best  security  for  the  enforcement  of  the  law  ?s 
the  jealous  watchfulness  of  political  enemies,  but  even 
this  is  marred  by  their  consciousness  of  being  tarred  with 
the  same  stick  and  the  fear  of  setting  embarrassing  pre- 
cedents. It  is  perhaps  too  much  to  say  that  all  money 
spent  on  elections  is  now  accounted  for,  but  even  the 
amounts  accounted  for  are  surprisingly  large  and  prove 
that  many  men  will  spend  more  than  the  total  salary 
of  their  office  in  order  to  be  elected.  Many  a  man,  as  he 
foots  up  his  expense  account,  must  question  whether  the 
game  is  worth  the  candle. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

BREAKING  INTO  POLITICS. 

THROTTGHOUT  this  book  we  liave  spoken  often  of 
the  practical  citizen,  but  have  shunned  all  mention 
of  the  practical  politician  as  a  thing  of  ill  omen  not 
to  be  spoken  of.  As  we  are  striving,  however,  to  be  prac- 
tical, we  must  not  shut  our  eyes  to  what  exists  in  reality, 
and  therefore,  it  will  be  worth  our  while  to  spend  a  mo- 
ment in  pointing  out  just  the  difference  between  the  prac- 
tical citizen  and  the  practical  politician.  On  examina- 
tion of  the  words  themselves,  we  will  see  that  the  differ- 
ence does  not  reside  there.  The  word  practical  is  pres- 
ent in  both  expressions  and  politician  differs,  as  a  word, 
from  citizen,  only  in  its  derivation.  Politician  has  come 
to  us  from  the  Greek,  citizen  from  the  Latin,  and  both 
mean  exactly  the  same  thing,  one  who  has  to  do  with 
the  things  of  a  city.  Since  in  early  times  a  city  meant 
the  same  thing  as  a  State,  the  term  citizen  and  politician 
both  meant  anyone  who  was  interested  in  public  affairs. 
How  does  it  come  about  then  that  expressions  with  so 
identical  a  meaning  have  come  to  be  so  strongly  con- 
trasted in  modern  usage  ?  Around  the  term  practical 
politician  has  gathered  a  crowd  of  associations  which 
has  rendered  it  almost  a  term  of  reproach.  Bare  of  such 
associations,  practical  suggests  efficiency,  the  nice  fitting 
of  means  to  ends,  the  elimination  of  the  unnecessary,  the 
concentration  of  attention.  In  this  world  of  moral  judg- 
ments, however,  efficiency  must  always  be  judged  by  the 
ends  which  it  assists  in  attaining,  and  when  practical  is 
used  in  connection  with  politician,  the  combined  phrase 
has,  through  long  usage,  come  to  mean  a  man  who  is 
more  practical  than  moral,  more  interested  in  achieving 

255 


256  STATE  GOVEENMEXT  IX  PEXXSYLVANIA. 

the  result  than  in  the  means  by  which  the  result  is  achiev- 
ed or  by  the  worth  of  the  result  itself.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  word  practical,  when  combined  with  citizen  has  no 
such  connotation.  As  before,  practicality  means  the 
choosing  of  the  proper  means  and  the  subordinating  of 
irrelevancies,  but  this  may  mean  the  sacrifice  of  the  prac- 
tical citizen's  personal  ambition,  the  surrender  of  office 
or  the  loss  of  an  election.  The  difference  then  between 
the  two  classes  of  men  is  in  their  motives.  Both  must  be 
practical. 

We  may  safely  assume  that  any  reader  who  has  fol- 
lowed this  far  is  imbued  with  the  motive  of  public  ser- 
vice, and,  therefore,  it  is  now  time  for  us  to  enter  into  a 
discussion  of  the  way  in  which  this  motive  may  be  ren- 
dered of  practical  advantage  in  public  life. 

When  a  person  once  makes  up  his  mind  to  be  a  practi- 
cal citizen,  his  first  duty  is  to  inform  himself  about  the 
questions  which  are  pressing  for  solution  in  public  af- 
fairs and  then  to  make  himself  perfectly  familiar  with 
the  machinery  by  which  the  opinion  of  the  individual 
citizen  is  registered  in  connection  with  the  solution  of 
these  problems.  When  these  studies  have  been  faith- 
fully made,  and  the  citizen  has  conscientiously  cast  his 
vote,  it  may  be  that  he  has  done  all  that  can  rationally 
be  expected  of  him.  This  is  true  of  many  thousands  of 
our  citizens,  but  there  is  a  large  class,  numbering  far 
more  than  would  generally  be  conceded,  of  those  who  can 
and  ought  to  do  more  in  public  matters  than  has  been 
their  wont,  before  they  can  be  considered  to  have  dis- 
charged their  full  duty.  The  citizen  who  does  nothing- 
more  than  vote  may  be  likened  to  the  private  in  the 
army,  a  very  necessary  part  of  the  whole  organization. 
But  just  as  the  private  soldiers  would  be  helplessly 
doomed  to  destruction  unless  officered  by  men  of  super- 
ior knowledge,  so  the  ordinary  voter  would  but  wander 
hopelessly  in  the  chaos  of  affairs  if  there  were  not  a 


BREAKING   INTO   POLITICS.  257 

group  of  citizens  who  could  act  as  leaders.  These  lead- 
ers have  their  differences  of  rank,  too,  and  rise  in  grade 
from  the  division  leader  up  to  ward,  city,  State  and  na- 
tional leaders.  The  chief  difference  between  the  practi- 
cal politician  and  the  practical  citizen  acting  as  a  leader 
of  public  opinion  is  that  the  practical  politician  is  a  pro- 
fessional in  the  sense  that  his  livelihood  is  more  or  less 
intimately  connected  with  his  ability  and  success  in  po- 
litical management,  while  the  practical  citizen  is  an  ama- 
teur, in  the  sense  that  his  activity  is  based  merely  upon 
his  love  of  his  felloAvmen.  Since  the  motive  power  of 
the  need  of  a  livelihood  is  usually  greater  than  that 
of  altruism,  the  practical  politician  is  usually  much  more 
consistently  energetic  than  the  practical  citizen.  Indeed, 
it  is  rarely  possible  that  a  practical  citizen  can  afford  to 
give  the  time  and  attention  which  he  fully  realizes  is 
necessary  in  order  to  obtain  the  desired  result.  Yet  the 
practical  citizen  frequently  w^orsts  the  practical  politi- 
cian in  his  own  sphere  of  action.  Being  moved  by  princi- 
ple he  is  more  consistent  than  his  opportunist  competi- 
tor, being  an  idealist  he  is  usually  a  higher  type,  most 
of  all,  he  fights  with  the  right  upon  his  side.  The  win- 
ning of  battles  by  a  practical  citizen  has  this  strange  dif- 
ference from  the  battles  won  by  the  practical  politician: 
When  the  practical  politician  wdns  his  battle,  he  achieves 
the  result  immediately  in  view,  but  all  other  things  re- 
main as  before,  w^hile  when  the  practical  citizen  wins  a 
battle  he  raises  to  a  higher  level  all  of  public  life. 

One  of  the  points  long  in  controversy  has  now  been 
definitely  w^on  by  the  practical  citizen.  At  a  time  not 
long  passed  away  it  was  actually  difficult,  as  a  matter 
of  law,  to  get  into  touch  with  the  realities  of  political 
action.  Theodore  Roosevelt  gives  a  vivid  description  of 
the  earlier  state  of  affairs  in  his  autobiography:  ''At 
that  day,  in  1880,  a  young  man  of  my  bringing  up  and 
convictions  could  join  only  the  Republican  Party,  and 


258  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

join  it  I  accordingly  did.  It  was  no  simple  thing  to  join 
it  then.  That  was  long  before  the  era  of  ballot  reform 
and  control  of  primaries;  long  before  the  era  when  we 
realized  that  the  government  must  take  official  notice 
of  the  deeds  and  acts  of  party  organizations.  The  party 
was  still  treated  as  a  private  corporation,  and  in  each 
district  the  organization  formed  a  kind  of  social  and 
political  club.  A  man  had  to  be  regularly  proposed  for 
and  elected  into  this  club,  just  as  into  any  other  club.  As 
a  friend  of  mine  picturesquely  phrased  it,  'I  had  to 
break  into  the  organization  with  a  jimmy.'  "  ^  The  con- 
ditions at  present  surrounding  activity  in  public 
life  allow  a  wider  choice  of  entry.  The  newcomer 
in  public  affairs  must  make  a  fundamental  choice 
at  the  outset  of  his  career.  He  may  either  join 
one  of  the  major  national  parties  and  strive  to 
work  out  his  ideals  through  it;  or  he  may  join  one  of 
the  numerous  independent  parties  which  spring  into 
being  from  time  to  time,  which  have  their  day  and  cease 
to  be.  If  he  choose  the  first,  he  will  be  known  as  a  re- 
former within  the  party;  if  the  second,  as  an  independ- 
ent. There  is  no  other  alternative  for  anyone  who  would 
have  a  practical  effect  in  shaping  public  affairs,  although 
there  are  thousands  who  from  a  self-assumed  position 
of  superior  virtue  indiscriminately  condemn  everyone 
who  is  attempting  to  do  anything  in  actual  public  life  for 
the  general  good.  It  is  possible  for  a  practical  citizen 
to  be  useful  in  either  course.  If  he  attempts  his  reform 
within  the  party  he  has  the  advantage  of  the  dead  weight 
momentum  of  party  loyalty  and  party  prestige  based  on 
past  achievements,  but  also  he  must  face  the  enormous 
disadvantage  of  the  fact  that  this  same  mass  momentum 
will  carry  him  in  directions  which  he  would  not.  The 
man  who  enters  independent  politics  fights  against  the 

(1)  Theodore    Roosevelt,    An    Autobiography.      The    MacMillan 
Company,  New  York,  1913,  p.  62. 


BREAKING  INTO  POLITICS.  259 

handicap  of  being  compelled  continually  to  re-create 
his  machinery  and  to  profit  wholly  from  the  issues 
of  the  present,  without  the  prestige  of  a  glorious  past. 
He  must  fight  against  political  habits,  mental  laziness 
and  many  other  of  the  vices  of  human  nature,  but  he  has 
the  far-reaching  advantage  that  when  he  is  enabled 
to  win  a  victory,  it  is  a  clean-cut  victory  recognized  by 
all  as  somewhat  out  of  the  ordinary,  and,  therefore,  of 
much  more  lasting  influence  upon  affairs  in  general.  The 
two  theories  which  lead  some  to  become  reformers  with- 
in the  party  and  some  independents  we  have  seen  previ- 
ously at  work  influencing  the  present  conditions  of  the 
election  laws;  the  one  producing  the  uniform  primaries, 
which,  of  course,  are  designed  to  enable  members  of  a 
party  to  have  an  influence  over  it ;  and  the  other  produc- 
ing the  non-partisan  ballot,  the  separation  of  elections 
and  other  devices  intended  to  give  the  independent  citi- 
zen as  much  opportunity  as  possible  to  express  his  de- 
sires without  being  confused  with  national  questions. 
Which  method  any  particular  individual  will  adopt  is 
probably  largely  a  question  of  temperament.  Unques- 
tionably a  citizen  may  make  himself  useful  in  either  way. 
If  we  but  hold  fast  to  our  conception  that  it  is  the  motive 
which  distinguishes  the  practical  citizen  from  the  practi- 
cal politician,  we  can  with  perfect  good  will  look  upon 
the  differences  which  divide  the  reformer  within  the 
party  from  his  co-workers  in  the  independent  sphere, 
as  simply  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  best  means  of 
achieving  a  common  end.  The  choice  is  such  as  would 
have  to  be  made  by  a  traveler  returning  to  the  land  that 
he  loves,  who,  on  coming  to  the  hither  shore  of  a  vast 
lake,  found  two  vessels  about  to  sail  for  home.  One  was 
a  great  and  staunch  ship,  but  filled  with  a  heterogeneous 
company,  some  of  them  most  vile  and  boding  no  good 
to  the  home  land,  if  they  should  reach  it.  The  other  ves- 
sel was  shallow,  and  narrow,  and  open,  and  short,  its 


260  STATE   GOVERNMENT  IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 

crew  was  not  complete  and  its  provisions  were  scanty, 
but  its  company  were  all  men  of  good  will,  and  their 
homecoming  would  be  a  cause  of  rejoicing.  The  traveler 
might  well  argue,  ''I  hope  to  benefit  my  country  with 
the  wisdom  I  have  gained  in  my  travels,  but  to  do  so  I 
must  first  of  all  attain  its  shores ;  that  staunch  ship  will 
surely  reach  the  other  side,  while  this  poor  shallop 
seems  like  to  founder  in  the  first  gale  or  starve  her  crew 
should  adverse  winds  delay.  As  a  practical  man,  I  can 
but  take  the  safe  way  home,  but,  it  cannot  escape  me  that 
there  are  many  evil  men  aboard  the  former  vessel,  and 
if  I  help  navigate  her  home,  I  must  by  that  act  bring 
to  my  country's  shores  much  that  will  hurt  her.  Shall  I 
join  the  single  minded  rowers  in  the  little  ship  and  ex- 
ert myself  to  bring  them  and  me  across,  or  shall  I  give 
myself  to  missionary  efforts  on  the  larger  boat  and  hope 
to  improve  the  manners  of  her  company  that  they  may 
do  her  less  harm  when  they  safely  arrive"!  One  thing 
the  traveler  does  not  try  to  do.  He  does  not  attempt  to 
swim  over  alone,  but  joins  with  one  or  other  set  of  asso- 
ciates. And  so  our  practical  citizen,  having  made  his 
choice,  will  want  to  know  the  next  step  in  making  him- 
self felt  in  the  type  of  party  which  he  has  chosen. 

All  parties  are  organized  on  the  same  general  plan. 
One  or  more  delegates  are  chosen  by  the  party  voters 
of  each  election  district  to  represent  them  in  a  ward 
committee.  The  ward  committee  chooses  delegates  to  a 
city  or  county  committee.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  the 
election  district  is  the  constituent  unit. 

In  entering  actual  political  life  it  is  first  necessary 
to  become  "a  factor,"  that  is  to  say  the  newcomer  must 
make  himself  a  person  whose  decisions  are  of  in- 
fluence beyond  the  control  of  his  own  vote,  so 
that  the  leaders  higher  in  rank  who  are  direct- 
ing affairs  and  thinking  in  terms  of  larger  units 
may     look     to     him     for     definite     results     from     his 


BREAKING  INTO  POLITICS.  261 

own  district.  It  is  easiest  and  most  natural  first  to 
become  a  factor  in  the  election  division.  Wliile  it  is  some- 
times possible  to  spring  full  armed  into  tlie  arena  of  ward 
or  city  politics,  such  action  is  very  rare  and  is  not 
normal,  and,  indeed,  such  a  person  would  always  suffer 
from  the  lack  of  primary  political  education.  Success 
in  politics,  as  in  any  other  serious  avenue  of  Imman  en- 
deavor, depends  upon  the  ability,  industry  and  charac- 
ter of  the  persons  engaged.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible 
to  predict  of  any  particular  individual  what  his  success 
wall  be,  but  it  may  be  pointed  out  in  general  that  char- 
acteristics of  personal  likability  are  of  vastly  greater 
importance  in  politics  tlian  tliey  are  in  other  walks  of 
life.  Since  the  basis  of  political  power  is  the  ability  to 
get  people  to  vote  for  you  or  as  you  advise,  it  is  evident 
that  the  more  people  come  to  like  you  the  greater  will 
be  your  success.  Kindliness,  approachability  and  sym- 
pathy are  greater  weapons  in  the  political  arena  than 
mental  ability  or  power  of  oratory.  Indeed,  it  is  a  sad 
thing  to  realize  to  what  an  extent  these  good  qualities 
of  human  nature  have  been  expended  in  the  attaining 
of  selfish  ends.  If  our  practical  citizen  can  but  secure 
that  a  fair  majority  of  the  voters  in  his  division  will  like 
him  and  have  an  interest  in  his  advancement,  he  is  in  a 
fair  way  to  take  the  first  step  in  his  political  career. 

There  is  a  marked  difference  in  the  rapidity  witli 
which  advancement  may  be  obtained  in  a  great  national 
party  and  in  an  independent  party.  Entrance  to  an  in- 
dependent party  is  extremely  easy,  because  such  parties 
never  have  an  overplus  of  workers  and  anybody  Avho 
will  show  the  slightest  activity  is  welcomed  to  their 
ranks.  And  here  lies  danger,  for  the  lack  of  competition 
is  apt  to  induce  laziness,  while  the  inability  to  replace 
a  poor  worker  tends  to  keep  him  in  liis  place  when  he 
is  not  proving  his  usefulness.  It  is  also  true  that  in  an 
independent  party  advancement  may  possibly  be  more 


262  STATE  GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

rapid,  for  sudden  turns  take  place  at  times,  and  the 
small  independent  body  may  one  day  find  itself  in  power 
and  needing  to  expand  its  ranks  to  the  full  complement 
of  a  majority  party.  In  the  very  nature  of  things,  this 
cannot  be  expected  to  happen  often,  else  the  party  could 
not  be  called  an  independent  party,  it  would  be  the  party 
in  power. 

In  a  national  party  the  new  recruit  is  apt  to  find  his 
entrance  not  so  easy  and  his  progress  slower,  because 
the  competition  will  be  much  greater.  In  case  he  finds 
difficulty  he  must  decide  whether  to  break  in  or  await 
his  turn.  If  he  decides  on  the  former,  he  must  endeavor 
to  defeat  the  present  ward  committeemen  at  the  next 
election  for  that  office.  If  his  fight  is  part  of  a  larger 
fight  for  control,  by  a  new  faction  of  the  party,  a  vigor- 
ous battle  will  be  the  part  of  wisdom,  but  if  he  is  start- 
ing out  as  an  individual  and  there  is  no  movement  in  the 
party,  it  would  not  ordinarily  be  wise  to  try  to  oust  a 
well  entrenched  division  leader.  There  is  a  deeprooted 
feeling  in  the  political  mind  that  every  man  has  a  right 
to  his  job,  and  that  there  is  something  wrong  in  compet- 
ing for  a  place  already  filled  by  a  man  of  your  own  party. 
Where  there  is  a  general  fight,  the  result  is  looked  upon 
as  the  fortune  of  war  and  politicians  least  of  all  fighters 
cherish  malice  against  the  enemy.  But  where  there  is 
no  war  an  attack  on  a  single  place  is  looked  upon  as  a 
sort  of  treachery,  and  the  man  who  was  successful  in 
such  an  attack  would  be  looked  upon  as  an  interloper  in 
the  circles  to  which  he  had  attained,  and  would  leave  be- 
hind him  in  the  very  citadel  of  his  power  a  bitterness 
that  might  well  accomplish  his  downfall,  and  at  best 
would  cause  him  much  anxiety  and  at  a  time  when  he 
would  need  support  in  larger  spheres  of  action.  No  poli- 
tician wants  enemies,  especially  not  in  his  own  division. 
So,  if  there  is  no  vacancy  in  the  position  of  division  leader 
and  no  general  fight  for  control  the  aspiring  worker  had 


BREAKING  INTO  POLITICS.  263 

better  make  himself  conspicuously  useful  to  his  party  on 
the  stump,  or  in  any  other  way  lie  can.  One  of  tlie  best 
methods  of  making  a  political  impression  is  to  run  for 
some  minor  local  office,  such  as  judge  of  election  or  as- 
sessor of  the  division.  This  last  office  is  peculiarly  valu- 
able as  an  introduction  to  political  life,  for  its  duties 
require  a  thorough  familiarity  with  the  name  and  resi- 
dence of  every  voter  within  the  division.  Under  any  cir- 
cumstances, a  man  entering  political  life  should  make 
himself  ''solid"  in  his  home  division,  and,  of  course,  as 
he  rises,  spread  his  solidity  over  as  large  a  territory  as 
possible.  Achieving  this  solidity  is  a  different  thing 
from  deserving  it.  Some  direct  contact  with  the  indi- 
vidual voters  is  necessary.  The  basis  of  political  power 
in  America  is  the  good  nature  of  the  people.  Where 
there  is  no  adverse  personal  interest  the  average  voter 
would  rather  do  a  good  turn  than  not.  When  a 
friendly  looking  politician  asks  for  a  vote  as  a  personal 
favor,  the  impulse  of  the  majority  is  to  give  it  on  that 
ground  alone.  Only  a  strong  stimulus  reaching  their 
moral  nature  or  their  pocketbook  will  induce  the  voter 
to  turn  down  a  fellowman  asking  a  costless  favor.  The 
new-comer  in  politics  must  realize  this  and  must  over- 
come the  usual  hesitancy  in  asking  people  to  do  things 
for  him.  Probably  the  greatest  defect  in  the  ordinary 
practical  citizen  as  a  political  factor  is  his  unwilling- 
ness to  ask  the  assistance  of  his  fellow  citizens  on  per- 
sonal grounds. 

Another  source  of  power  possessed  by  the  worker 
in  politics  is  the  fact  that  he  is  a  custodian  of  a  fund 
of  special  information.  He  knows  how  the  ballot  should 
be  marked  and  when  all  the  various  steps  in  the  intri- 
cate requirements  of  election  must  be  taken.  He  knows 
something  about  each  of  the  many  candidates,  and  the 
average  voter,  who  knows  little  about  tlio  candidates  ex- 
cept those  heading  the  ticket,  will  willingly  be  led  by  a 


264  STATE   GOVERNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

man  of  such  superior  information.  This  trust  which  is 
placed  in  the  worker  by  many  of  his  fellow  citizens  en- 
ables him  to  attain  the  results  which  are  the  grounds  for 
his  claim  to  recognition.  The  voting  of  a  ballot  is  not 
actually  an  intricate  affair,  although  it  is  impossible  to 
suppress  astonishment  at  the  high  grade  of  intelligence 
which  frequently  finds  the  ballot  baffling,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  the  most  explicit  directions  are  placed 
upon  the  ballot  in  large  type.  On  another  page  will  be 
found  reproductions  of  several  ballots.  It  will  be  worth 
the  reader 's  while  to  study  these  ballots  and  actually  read 
every  word  of  directions  upon  them.  Doing  this  calmly 
and  at  his  leisure,  and  away  from  the  turmoil  of  an 
actual  election,  he  Avill  probably  be  surprised  to  find  how 
complete  and  explicit  the  directions  are,  and  will  realize 
what  a  shameful  thing  it  is  for  voters  of  ordinary  in- 
telligence to  surrender  their  privilege  of  franchise  to  the 
politician  on  the  ground  that  the  ballot  is  too  intricate 
to  master. 

After  having  become  some  kind  of  a  political 
factor  the  practical  citizen  must  decide  whether  he  can 
serve  best  by  running  for  office  or  by  managing  political 
affairs  without  taking  a  public  position.  This  question 
of  seeking  public  office  is  a  vital  one,  and  must  be  faced 
sooner  or  later  by  every  earnest  citizen  in  practical  pub- 
lic work.  Some  day,  if  he  has  done  good  work,  will  come 
the  suggestion  that  he  run  for  office.  Since  there  are  so 
many  of  those  whose  sole  reason  for  desiring  office  is 
the  emoluments,  such  a  man  must  be  prepared  to  have 
his  motives  misunderstood.  Unselfish  office-seeking  is 
so  rare  a  phenomenon  as  usually  to  pass  unrecognized, 
but  probably  by  this  time  our  practical  citizen  is  accus- 
tomed to  being  misunderstood  and  will  not  be  deterred. 
To  be  urged  to  accept  office  is  flattering,  espec- 
ially when  urged  by  those  whose  ideals  of  office  holding 
are  high,  and  our  practical  citizen  must  examine  himself 


BREAKING  INTO  POLITICS.  265 

to  be  sure  that  he  is  not  yielding  to  vanity.  Before  de- 
ciding to  make  the  race,  the  practical  citizen  should  be 
very  sure  that  he  can  afford  from  a  financial  point  of 
view  to  hold  office.  This  does  not  mean  that  he  must  be 
a  rich  man;  still  less  does  it  mean  that  he  feels  able  to 
live  on  the  salary  of  the  office.  It  means,  ratlier,  can  he 
step  back  at  the  end  of  his  term  into  the  same  level  of 
self-support  as  before,  so  that  the  question  of  the  salary 
of  the  office  is  a  matter  of  indifference.  For  the  practi- 
cal politician  offices  are  frankly  spoils.  As  long  as  poli- 
ticians are  so  numerous  and  so  constantly  in  office,  we 
can  do  little  but  wonder  that  the  State  survives  as  well 
as  it  does,  and  be  thankful  for  that  underlying  stratum 
of  patriotism  animating  most  Americans  which  keeps 
their  government  by  spoilsmen  from  collapsing  all  to- 
gether. But  no  man  questioning  whether  his  duty  calls 
him  to  take  office  ought  ever  to  decide  in  the  affirmative 
if  the  salary  is  an  important  consideration,  and  its  loss 
a  thing  to  be  dreaded.  In  such  a  case  his  judgment,  can 
never  be  unfettered.  Either  he  will  succumb  to  the  press- 
ure of  material  interests  and  awake  some  day  to  ac- 
knowledge himself  a  member  of  the  bread  and  butter 
brigade,  or,  what  is  more  likely  in  the  case  we  are  con- 
sidering, he  will  torment  his  conscience  with  the  fear 
that  he  may  be  yielding  to  such  an  influence,  and,  by 
leaning  over  backward,  become  a  constant  nuisance  to 
eveiybody  who  has  dealings  with  him.  Some  rare  souls 
can  keep  a  perfect  balance  of  judgment  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, but  no  one  is  justified  in  assuming  that  he  is 
one  of  this  number,  and  placing  himself  in  a  position 
where  his  discovery  that  he  was  not  would  be  disastrous. 
But  supposing  that  the  financial  question  is  not  a  factor 
and  calm  self-examination  shows  that  the  pomp  of  office 
is  not  the  attraction,  and  that  a  reasonable  ability  exists, 
then  the  call  is  clear.  Our  country  needs,  woefully  needs 
unselfish  office  holders.    When  a  foreign  enemv  threatens 


266  STATE  GOVEKNMENT  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

millions  of  men  spring  to  arms  prepared  to  die  to 
save  their  country,  but  when  graft  and  corruption  are 
rotting  the  core  of  the  city,  State  and  nation,  where 
are  the  men  to  hold  the  posts  of  responsibility  and  diffi- 
culty and  lead  onward  to  a  better  day? 

While  office-holding  is  the  most  conspicuous  method 
of  public  service  for  the  practical  citizen,  it  is  not  the 
only  method.  A  rarer  ability  and  a  greater  sacrifice  is 
required  of  those  faithful  souls  who  in  the  obscurity  of 
tobacco-filled  committee  rooms  and  without  the  stimulus 
of  public  applause,  dedicate  their  talents  to  the  wise 
management  of  the  political  cause  in  which  they  have 
embarked.  Whenever  any  movement  for  better  things 
in  public  life  succeeds,  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that 
some  such  citizens  have  been  found  to  take  the  lead.  It 
is  unfortunate  that  the  services  of  such  men,  necessarily 
obscure,  are  seldom  appraised  at  their  true  worth  or  find 
their  way  into  the  history  of  the  times.  As  the  number 
of  our  practical  citizens  grows,  the  worth  of  these  men 
will  be  better  appreciated  and  they  will  come  into  their 
own.^ 

For  every  one  there  is  some  place  of  public  useful- 
ness. Our  highest  hopes  for  our  country  will  never  be 
fulfilled  until  each  citizen  plays  his  full  part.  Differ- 
ences of  opinion  about  forms  of  government  and  policies 
there  will  ever  be.  Some  of  us  are  by  nature  radical  and 
some  conservative,  but  all  unite  in  realizing  that  what- 
ever policies  are  adopted,  nothing  but  the  most  loyal 
shouldering  of  public  duty  by  every  citizen  will  bring 
them  to  full  fruition. 


(1)  The  rule  that  we  should  not  mention  names  may  well  be 
suspended  in  the  case  of  those  who  have  passed  away.  The  wise 
and  g>entle  judgments  of  Andrew  R.  Wight  of  Germantown  are  still 
a  fragrant  memory  to  those  who  knew  him,  a  perfect  example  of  the 
dedication  of  unusual  powers  to  the  service  of  the  public  by  counsel 
in  political  management  while  steadfastly  refusing  to  seek  or  accept 
public  office. 


INDEX 

Page 

Adjutant  General  77 

Aldermen    123 

Apportionment    13,  14 

Appropriation  Bills    33,  40,  44,  46 

Art  Jury   162,  163 

Assistance  to  Voters   229,  230 

Attorney  General   77,  78,  108 

Auditor  General    77,  78,  106,  115 

Automobile  Licenses    114 

Ballot   244  ff. 

Bill    19,  25,  26,  27,  29,  42,  71 

Board  of  Agriculture    105 

Censors  of  Moving  Picture  Films    121 

Education    88 

Game  Commissioners   112 

Passenger  Railways    81 

Property    81 

Public  Education  93 

To  License  Private  Bankers 81 

Trustees,  State  Library   81 

Boroughs    '. 70,  143,  179,  ff. 

British  Statutes    69 

Budget    53 

Building  and  Loan  Associations  102 

Bull  Moose  Party  205 

Bureau  of  Assessment  and  Taxes   83 

Boiler  Inspection   159 

Building  Inspection    159 

Chemistry    104 

City   Property    159 

Correction   159 

Dairy  and  Food  103 

Economic  Zoology  103 

Elevator  Inspection    159 

Electrical    159 

Employment    119 

Fire     ' 159 

Gas    160 

Highways     1 59 

Industrial  Statistics    84 

Lighting    160 

Markets   104 

Mediation  and  Arbitration    118 

Railways    84 

Standards    84 

Street  Cleaning   159 

Surveys    160 

267 


268  INDEX. 

Page 
Bureau  of  Water  160 

Charitable  Appropriations  41,  47,  49,  50,  53,  65,  115' 

Child  Labor  Laws   60 

Cities    143^  153 

of  the  First  Class 156  ff. 

of  the  Second  Class 168  ff. 

of  the  Third  Class  171  ff. 

Citizenship    216 

City  Party   196 

Civil  Service  Reform   63,  74,  163,  178 

Clerk  of  Quarter  Sessions  136,  146 

Codification    68 

Corporations    •. 70 

General  Repealer 70 

Taxation     70 

Commissioner,  County   147,  148 

Fisheries 112 

Forestry    109 

Health 95,  116 

Highway    114 

Insurance 100 

Labor  and  Industry   77,  119 

Commission  Form  of  Government  82,  170 

Commission  of  Aorieulture    103 

Economy  and  Efficiency  Fi-ontispiece,  74 

Fisheries    112 

Historical    115 

Industrial  Home -for  Women 73 

Public  Service    107 

Sinking   Fund    81,  159,  169 

Water   Supply    Ill 

Committees    17,  20,  23,  46 

Agriculture 21 

Appropriations    20,  48,  53 

Conference    33 

Education    21 

Judiciary  General    20 

Judiciary  Special   20 

Municipal   Corporations 21 

of  the  Whole  26,  35 

Committee  on  Committees   17 

Constitution  of  Pennsylvania   7,  8,  18,  19,  50,  82 

Cabinet    76,  78 

Continuation  Schools 94 

Convcniion   System    2^- 

Coroner    14o 

Corrapt  Practices  Act   63,  250  ff. 

Council    156,  158,  169,  174 


INDEX.  269 

Page 

Count  of  Ballots 248 

Counties     143,  145  £f. 

County  Court    128 

County  Auditor   148 

Comptroller    148 

Treasurer    148 

Court  of  Common  Pleas   89,  129,  134 

Court  of  Quarter  Sessions 131,  136 

Democrats    206 

Department,  Accounts  and  Finance 174 

Agriculture    103,  105 

Banking   101 

Charities  and  Correction 169 

City  Controller   159,  161,  169 

City  Transit   159,  161 

City  Treasurer   159,  161,  169 

Collector  of  Delinquent  Taxes 169 

Education    87,  95 

Fisheries 112 

Forestry    109 

Health    92,  115 

Highway    114 

Insurance    100 

Internal  Affairs  83 

Labor  and  Industry    77,  118 

Law    ." 159,  169 

Mines    118 

Parks  and  Public  Property 174 

Public  Affairs   ". 174 

Public  Health  and  Charities 159,  160,  161,  163 

Public  Safety   159,  169,  174 

Public  Works  159,  169 

Receiver  of  Taxes  159,  161 

Streets  and  Public  Improvements 174 

Supplies   1 59.  160 

"Wharves.  Docks  and  Ferries   159,  161 

District  Attorney   146 

Dogs    30  ff. 

Domestic  Relations 133 

Enacting  Clause    19 

Enrollment    196,  197.  202 

Elections    148,  243 

Election  Laws   62 

Election  Expenses 250  ff. 

Executive   Department    76,  78,  85 

Expenditures   54,  5;5 

Federal  Government   3.  17 


270  INDEX. 

Page 

Fire  Marshal  101 

Franklin  Party  196 

General  Assembly   10,  15 

Governor   29,  78,  87,  95,  105 

House  of  Representatives 10,  25,  28,  33,  34,  35,  38,  40,  41 

Independent    258 

Incorporated   Towns    143,  179,  182 

Initiative  175,  177,  194,  195 

Interstate  Commerce  Commission 82 

Johnson,  Andrew   80 

Justice  of  the  Peace 123 

Juvenile  Court   131 

Keystone  Party  196 

Land  Office 83 

Legislation    56,  58 

Legislative  Reference  Bureau   20n,  67 

Legislature 10,  18,  24,  42,  44,  47,  49,  52,  79 

Lieutenant  Governor    16,  76,  78,  79,  80,  158 

Lincoln  Party   196 

Livestock  Sanitary  Board 105 

Lord  High  Chancellor  81 

Magistrate 123,  129 

Mayor   158,  163,  174 

Minority  Representation    147 

Medical  Inspection    92 

Municipal    Corporations    88,  141,  144,  190 

Municipal  Court    129,  132 

New  Party  204 

Nomination  Papers    204 

Non-Partisan  Ballot   175,  176 

Non-Partisan  Elections 196,  199,  239 

Opening  Ballot  Box 234 

Orphans '   Court    137 

Osteopaths   96 

Pardon  Board   81 

Parties    193  ff.  223,  258  ff. 

Party  Raiding  203 

Pennsylvania  State  College 105,  106 

Personal  Registration    63 

Philadelphia    88,  93,  128,  143,  144,  149,  169 

Philadelphia  Party 196 

Pittsburgh    88,  93,  128,  169 

Playgrounds  Movement    60 

Poor  Districts    143,  187,  ff. 


INDEX.  271 

Page 

Poor  Laws   188 

Postmaster  General   77 

Practical  Citizen   56 

Preferential   Primary    225,  227,  231 

Presidential  Electors    225,  226 

Presidential  Primary 225 

President  of  the  Senate 16,  80 

President  of  the  U.  S 76,  79 

Primary    195,  200,  223 

Printina;    24 

Professional   Qualification    86 

Progressive  Party    205 

Proportional   Representation    199n,  239 

Prothonotary     136,  146 

Public   Schools    50,  86,  90 

Public  Service  Commission    107 

Raih'oad    Commission    107 

Recall 175 

Referendum 175,  178,  194,  195 

Reform  Within  the  Party 258 

Registrars    211 

Register  of  Wills   146 

Registration    202,  207,  224 

Registration   Commissioner    210 

Representative  Districts   13 

Republican     205 

Roberts,  Senator  Alg^ernon  T 251 

Roll  Call    27,  28,  33,  40 

Roosevelt,  Theodore   17,  257 

Root,  Senator   64 

Rules  of  House  and  Senate   18,  19,  28n,  29 

Salaries,  Burgess    181 

Councilmen    173 

General  Assembly   15 

Governor    79 

Lieutenant  Governor   80 

Mayor    173 

Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth 80 

Schnitzelbank   Song    35,  36 

School    Code 25.  51n,  69,  87.  90 

School   Districts    88,  143,  187  ff. 

Secretary  of  Agriculture     77,  103,  104,  106 

Commerce    77 

the  Commonwealth    77,  78,  80 

The  Interioi-   77 

Internal  Affairs   77,  78,  106 

Labor   77 


272  INDEX. 

Page 

Secretary  of  the  Navy 77 

State    77,  81 

the  Treasury 77 

War    77 

Senate    10,  25,  29,  33,  40,  41,  87 

Senatorial  Districts 13 

Serg-eant-at-Arms   30 

Sheriff    145 

Short  Ballot   64,  82 

Small  Council    64 

Society  to  Protect  Children  from  Cruelty 48n. 

Speaker    16,  17,  20,  29,  30,  34,  35,  36,  38 

State  Board  of  Charities 49 

State  Board  of  Education 87 

States '  Duties,  Doctrine  of  7 

State  and  Nation 1,  11,  28,  195 

State   Police    117 

Statistician,  Department  of  Agriculture 103 

States'  Rights,  Doctrine  of  7 

State    Treasurer    77,  78,  82,  115 

Superintendent,  Assistant  County   91 

County    91 

District   91 

of  Public  Instruction 78,  87,  88,  91 

Superior  Court    139 

Supreme  Court   137 

United  States    138 

Theories    196 

Theories  of  Government    9,  81 

Townships    143,  179  ff,  183 

Uniform  Primary    223,  224 

U.  S.  Senators,  Election  of 225 

Vacancies    234 

Van  Buren,  Martin   80 

Veterinary  Science,  Division  of   104 

Veto    ...  1 29,  79 

Vice  President  77,  79,  80,  158 

Vocational  Education   93 

Washington  Party   205 

Watchers    247 

Water  Supply  Commission  Ill 

Widow 's  Pension   61 

Wight,  Andrew  R 266n. 

William  Penn  Party   196 

Workers    247 

Workmen 's   Compensation    60,  119 

Yea  and  Nay  Voting 28,  30,  33 


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